Just a Little Better than Revenge
by CherryPop0120
Summary: Her name is Fujidana Hazuki and she's the younger sister of Kiyoshi. She hasn't had the best life, and neither has Kiyoshi. But after watching her brother refusing to lose, she came to love basketball as well. 3 years later, she witnessed his Seirin debut shattered by the dark side of the sport he loved. "Don't worry aniki, I'm going to Seirin and I will take revenge for you."
1. I am Fujidana Hazuki

**HOORAY! This is the like, the 1st fanfic I've had in a long time. But don't worry. I WILL NOT HAVE MARY-SUES. They are banned. Period. And no OOCness garbage either. Please warn me if it's getting dangerous. Special shout-out to Infinite Skye and Lia for reading this beforehand...**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - I am Fujidana Hazuki**

**Teikou Middle School.**

An infamous school with more than 100 club members and boasting endless match games and championships. Yet, in that glorious history, there is a team that is known as the strongest of them all. A generation with five players that had talent only seen once in ten years.

They were known as the Generation of Miracles.

Yet, there was a strange rumor about the Generation of Miracles. Despite nobody knowing or remembering him, there was one more person that these proud geniuses acknowledged... the legendary phantom sixth player.

* * *

**It was the 6th of April, the day of the school entrance ceremony. **

Sakura petals were flying everywhere onto the crowds of students in Seirin High School. Among them was a girl, with her hazel twintails swaying to and fro.

"This is Seirin, huh?" she murmured nervously, which wasn't like her.

This girl was Fujidana Hazuki, and she was a girl on a mission. _A mission of conquering, to be exact_, she thought as she made a fistpump to boost her spirit. _A mission of revenge._

But of course, she already had problems of a different matter. How was she possibly going to break into this parade of babbling students?

To begin with, the crowds were so packed that she would probably become a sandwich in 5 seconds flat. Second of all, where was she? She knew she had to try and get to the basketball recruiting table, but she was completely lost among the sea of people.

And that wasn't good. Hazuki was already getting very antsy, being in the midst of so many strangers.

"Carry on, carry on, carry on..." She muttered skittishly. But her mental strength was getting worse as more upperclassmen started hunting down on the freshmen.

"ARE YOU INTERESTED IN RUGBY!?" A senior roared.

"Did you ever play shogi?"

"If you're Japanese you should play baseball!"  
"SWIMMING! It feels SUPER!"

"I can't move forward! Bring a snow-plow!" A guy shouted.

I wish, Hazuki thought mournfully. But it's Spring now, so I don't even have the excuse to try that.

"We haven't moved more than 5 meters in 10 minutes..." His friend wailed.

_That's true_, she thought. "Excuse me," She passed by them. It might be better to wait on the sidelines by the Sakura trees until the crowd died down a bit.

"...Oh... sure," The blond hair boy stuttered. "Wow. That girl was really cute!"

"What? WHERE!?" His friend shook his head from side to side.

"Don't be so loud stupid. The one walking near the Sakura trees! See?! The one with the twintails."

Hazuki breathed a sigh of relief when she reached an empty seat, far far away from the crowds. Demophobia was a terrible thing. And the fact that she hadn't interacted with so many strangers in four years made it worse.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew the sakura petals into the air like a snowstorm. Hazuki blinked her eyes at the sudden breeze, then saw someone that caught her eye.

He looked like he was about the same height as she was with light blue hair and eyes and an even paler complexion. He was holding a book while calmly advancing in the crowds.

_Almost like a ghost, _she thought in observance.

She watched him duck the flailing hands of seniors and their persistent attacks.

_They can't see him...? _

Hazuki spotted the boy walking towards a billboard.

_What's he doing?_

…

_Oh._

There had been a large billboard near her with the locations of each club. She could have found the basketball team's recruiting table sooner.

_Basketball club... basketball club,_ she searched. _Right next to the baseball and the American football clubs. Okay._

She had to hurry and get there before the day ended.

* * *

"Well write your name and student ID number here." Aida Riko pointed.

"Then... the middle school you came from and your goals...?" A newcomer asked.

"Ah, of course that one if arbitrary, so you can put anything you want."

_That boy could be nice material for the basketball team,_ Riko drooled.

"Erm... one, two... ten people so far. Maybe we'd need a bit more..."

_I wonder how the invitations are going... bring back promising guys,_ she thought.

A second later, a sobbing Koganei Shinji appeared.

"I brought back... a new student."

"Is the basketball club here?" Kagami Taiga towered over the table.

_WHAA! Brought back... isn't that the other way around?!_

"Er, yeah!"

_On top of that, it feels like a wild tiger is in front of my eyes. Who is that guy?_

"Well! I think you know already, but our school was barely opened last year." She gave him tea. "All the upperclassmen are just second years, so somebody with your build will immediately..."

"I don't care about that," Kagami interrupted. "Give me a paper. I'll just write my name and go back."

"Eh?"_ His middle school was in America?! So he trained in the best place!? _

_Kagami Taiga-kun... no matter how you look at it, he doesn't seem like an average guy._

"Huh? You didn't write your goals?"

"...None in particular. After all, Japanese basketball is the same everywhere," he said as he tossed his cup away.

"...?" Riko and Koganei looked at his odd expression.

"S...SCARY! IS THAT REALLY A FRESHMAN!?" Koganei collapsed.

"By the way, I'd really like to know why he grabbed you by the neck and brought you back."

"That's..." Koganei spotted a registration paper. "Oh you forgot to pick up a registration form."

"Eh? My bad... eh... Kuroko Tetsuya... WAIT HE'S COMING FROM TEIKOU'S BASKETBALL CLUB?!"

'"EHH?! THAT FAMOUS ONE?"

"ON TOP OF THAT, IF HE'S A FIRST YEAR NOW, THAT MEANS HE WAS FROM THE GENERATION OF MIRACLES?! WAAAH! WHY DID I FORGET THE FACE OF SUCH A GOLDEN EGG?!"

"And the guy earlier was coming back from America... what's with the freshmen this year?!"

"Well it seems like this year might be the year!" Riko smiled. "Let's keep on hunting those freshmen down!"

"Roger," Koganei grinned weakly and stood up. "But I don't wanna be carried like that again."

He left, still somewhat shakened.

Hazuki finally made it to the basketball table. She spotted a girl with short brunette hair and brown eyes. This must be the coach that her brother had talked about. Hazuki made a fistpump. _Go!_

"Excuse me,"

"Eh?" Riko said.

"My name is Fujidana... Hazuki. I― I would like to join the basketball club!"

"Eh?" Riko was slightly startled. Most people didn't want to join clubs to be managers.

"Well sure! My name is Aida Riko and I'm the coach for Seirin's basketball club. We don't have a manager yet so you're absolutely welcome..."

No! One second into the conversation and it was going towards the opposite direction!

"No!"

"Eh?"

"I mean, sorry! I just mean..." Hazuki was getting so nervous she was losing her train of thought.

"Eh..." She zoned out for three seconds.

"I... want to play in games!"

"Ah?" Riko asked, stunned. "But this is a men's basketball team you know?"

She had expected that. But she knew had to press her point now, and try to explain why she wanted to join the men's basketball team.

"I... do you mind if I had talk to you privately now?"

"Well sure. None of the 2nd years will be back soon," Riko handed her a cup of tea. "Go ahead and sit down."

Hazuki heaved a sigh of relief. Her brother was right in that Seirin's coach was a reasonable person. But here came the moment of truth. She didn't know whether the coach would be willing to listen to her ideals, or if it would backfire.

"Do you know... Kiyoshi Teppei?"

"Teppei?! What, our Seirin basketball club founder?"

"Yes."

Riko was completely baffled now. Where was this going?

"I am, his sister."

Riko blinked.

"But your last names..."  
"Yes, they're different. Our parents are er... separated, and I have my mother's last name."

Hazuki handed the coach her ID papers which all freshmen had to give to the clubs. Riko quickly scanned the guardians section. Riko briefly remembered the papers of Teppei. It was the same.

_She... really has the same guardians that Teppei had. His grandparents. _

The coach couldn't think of anything to say to that, but she really was intrigued now.

_Teppei has never really mentioned much about his family besides the fact that he lives with his grandparents._ That was rather strange. _Come to think of it, I don't think any of us has been to his house or seen his family before. _

And he had never mentioned a sister. _She did say that she had her mother's last name, but why would she have their mother's last name if she lived in the same house as Teppei?_

_Teppei really was a mysterious person,_ Riko decided. _And now his sister comes out of nowhere who says that she wants to join the basketball. Of course something like this had to happen when he's in the hospital._

_But there's still some problems to address..._

"Alright, Fujidana-san was it?"

She nodded.

"But we can't just let a girl join a basketball team... to begin with, women and men have different physical body structures, and it would be practically impossible for you to on court with all men... even if Seirin doesn't have a women's basketball club."

"Coach, I have a goal that can only be achieved by being in the men's section for basketball. Can you hear me out at least please?"

_This was interesting_, she thought as she poured her tea. "Go on."

"My goal is to defeat The Crownless Generals."

Riko spit out the tea she had been pouring for herself. That had not been what she had expected. Hazuki offered a handkerchief.

"Sorry, sorry. But I didn't exactly expect that. I see. It really is a goal that can only be achieved in men's basketball..."  
"So Riko―

_Crap. She instinctively called that out of her bad habit._

I mean, Aida-san, please let me join the men's basketball team as a player!"

Riko looked at Hazuki for about ten long seconds.

"Is it for revenge? On that― guy?"

Hazuki flinched then kept quiet for a moment, "To some extent yes. But I have another goal besides that."

"What is it?"

Hazuki turned silent for a long moment.

"Well... you don't have to tell me yet, but the fact still stands that it's not easy for women to be accepted into the men's category for sports. The paperwork itself isn't that hard as long, but being an actual player means that you have to exceed the normal player, especially since you're on a court with the opposite gender."

Hazuki nodded, "So I need to prove myself."

"...Come with me to the Seirin gym. I think I'll test you personally before our actual meeting this afternoon."

"But what about our classes..." Hazuki twitched when she remembered that she going to a school class for the first time in years.

"Don't worry, since it's the first day of school, classes start later."

* * *

"Now Fujidana-san, you can show your basketball skills anyway you like," Riko explained as Hazuki changed into gym clothes in the girls changing rooms that only she used.

_She's well prepared_, Riko noted her sports gear. _Gym shorts, light t-shirt, and a sports headband to get her bangs out of the way. And her hair's tied up: well that's a standard. _

_She looks different with her headband... more confident..._

Riko sweatdropped._ She really looks like Teppei._

The coach began her scanning._ Urg, C-cups_, she thought. (At this moment, Hazuki felt a slight chill). _And well on her way to being D-cups_, she thought, irritably.

_But overall, a pretty good muscle structure, especially for her age and gender. She especially has an interesting flexibility on the thighs... she must be the short yet speedy type of player. She's also a lot taller than the average height for women... she's 165 cm._

They walked to the half-court line.

Hazuki was alert with a basketball in her head.

_She really is serious about this. _

"Yes." _Now concentrate on this trial, Fujidana Hazuki. Forget about classes until later. Remember what your aniki said? That catchphrase of his..._

"Start!" Riko blew her whistle.

WHOOSH!

The coach couldn't do anything blink as her pink whistle fell out of her mouth. _What... was that?!_

**_THAT... THAT INCREDIBLE SPEED!_**

Riko forced her head around to catch her next movements. She had expected her to be fast, but not this fast. But what came next was even more stunning.

Hazuki began to dribble in an odd leaning position. She then slanted in such a parallel position that Riko was afraid that she would fall. Hazuki then twisted to the opposite side as if she was dodging someone.

Crossover, fake, another elegant drive.

Hazuki then speeded to the finish.

SWISH.

The ball was elegantly scored with a layup.

_Let's have fun of course,_ Hazuki thought. _What you taught me. _

"Coach?"

_...Her speed is shocking. Being small and fast is a pretty common basketball type of player, but her speed is higher than even most male athletes. That makes up for her lack of strength compared to the guys._

_But that unusual balance of hers is what amazes me the most... what an odd player. I've never seen a player having such a good sense of balance on the court and using such unique positions when playing._

Riko could not help smiling a bit even with her slight worry on this unexpected development.

**_This year's freshmen are really insane._**

Someone from the Generation of Miracles, someone from America, trained in the best place. And now a girl, and the sister of that guy... with a style she'd never seen before...

"Come after school to today's first practice. You've passed."

* * *

Even with all her nerves, Hazuki could not help skipping somewhat down the hallway. The school hallway was thankfully quite empty, as most people were still in the club hunting grounds, or in the orientation.

She had passed. She actually got into the men's basketball team in a matter of minutes. Of course, she had been training for months and preparing dedicatedly for this, but all the same, it surprised her that it had been approved with ease.

"Class 1-B, Seat 18. There it is."

However, Hazuki was not the first to get there.

A pale ghost-like boy was there, reading a novel of some sort. He didn't acknowledge her and kept reading. _It's the guy from this morning..._

She stared at him for a few seconds. _Huh... _For some reason, Hazuki was somewhat mesmerized.

She had never seen such a person like this before.

_Not sure if that's a good or bad start, _Hazuki thought of the silence as she sat in her seat, which was right next to his. She sat in her seat for ten whole seconds with nothing but silence.

This would not do. Even if she had not gone to school in three years, she might as well start early and attempt to make conversation with people her age again. She made a fistpump and blew up her cheeks.

...

So what kind of introduction should she even do?

The info way?

_Hello nice to meet you, my name is Fujidana Hazuki, height: 165 cm, weight: 54 kg, type O blood, Birthday June 10th._

...

_No_, she shook her head. _Too straight forward._ She made an L sign with her hand and put it under her chin thoughtfully. Then with the same hand she raised it in a robot fashion that made her seem like one of those machines that moved whenever you put a coin in it.

AH!

_What about the Naruto style-ttebayo?_

_My name is Fujidana Hazuki, I like Vocaloid songs and my family! I hate Hana―_

Idiot. She was an idiot.

She couldn't reveal her intentions of joining the basketball team to some stranger she never met!

_Oh forget it. Forget it all._

_Let's just go with the legendary Kiyoshi family style._

"Um... excuse me..."

He didn't respond. Was she not loud enough?

_Alright then_, she walked towards the seat in front of him, kneeled on the chair, and looked straight at him. Surprisingly, when the boy looked up, he did not jump or yell in surprise. He only gave a slightly surprised glance as he closed his book.

"My name is Ki― er, Fujidana Hazuki Fujidana as in Wisteria Arbor, and Hazuki as in Leaf Moon. Nice to meet you," She bowed (the best you can, while you are sitting in seiza on a school chair), and then hopped out of it, walking back to her seat.

Meanwhile, Kuroko was somewhat stunned.

He had bought the mystery novel he had looked forward to in months this morning. He had been reading it to the first day of high school peacefully and had not been expecting any social interaction himself, which was the norm for him. Kuroko wasn't particularly noticeable, and he knew it.

He had certainly not been expecting anyone to notice him, and give such an... odd introduction? Well, it might have been a little strange, but definitely no less than the weirdness he had experienced in Teiko.

Teiko... well, that was back in the old days.

It would be a new start in Seirin.

_And it looks like that I'll have a nice... and interesting classmate in the first year of high school,_ he thought as he saw her unpack her school things as if nothing had happened.

* * *

"Alright, everyone seems to be here. All the freshmen, come this way." Riko smiled.

It was after school, and the first practice of this year would be starting!

_Hmm, where was the girl from this morning? _Riko thought. _Teppei's sister huh..._

"Hey isn't that manager cute?" One of the newcomers whispered.

"She's a second year right?" Another one replied.

"That's true! If only she was a bit more sexy..."

"You're wrong morons!" Two punches swang from the captain.

"OUCH!"

"I'm the Boy Basketball Club's coach. Aida Riko. Nice to meet you!"

"Eeeh!" All of them gaped.

_**It wasn't that guy?!**_ (The old guy in the corner).

"That's the advisor, Takeda-sensei. He's just watching."

"Seriously?!"

"Wait, is that even allowed?!"

"I'm sorry I'm late!" Hazuki ran into the gym, panting.

_It made absolutely no sense_, she thought. She had no problem finding the classroom, but she actually got lost on the way to the gym which was completely ironic._ I really have the ability to get lost at unexpected times_, Hazuki thought woefully. _I think I was too excited this morning._

Then all of a sudden, guys all turned their heads in synchronization. Hazuki startled.

"Is that the manager?" The same freshman asked. "She's cute as well, and more sexy than the coach..."

"Huh? Did you recruit us a manager this morning, Coach?" Koganei asked enthusiastically. "A cute, cuddly manager?"

"This is scary*, the coach brought us a kawaii manager." Izuki had a gleam next to his eye with his usual pun.

The captain twitched but obviously agreed since he didn't look at coach in the eye in case she would kill them.

Riko gave them all a glare that said, **If you keep going on like this, I will be armed with the paper fan.**

Yes sir! They all shivered.

"Eh?" Hazuki asked.

"Ah, Fujidana-san. You made it!"

"Yes, Coach. I'm sorry, I got lost..."

"It's all right."  
"Hello everyone," Hazuki bowed. "My name is Fujidana Hazuki." She said, pushing her nervousness down. At least it wasn't as crowded as that morning.

All the guys stared at her.

Everyone, she's not going to be our manager," She explained more to the 2nd years.

"Huh?" Koganei asked. "What do you mean?"

"What else could I mean? She's obviously going to play in matches!" Riko put her arm around Hazuki.

There was a long period of silence.

"EH?" Everyone chorused.

"WAIT A SECOND COACH!" Hyuuga demanded. "How does that work?!"

"Exactly what I said. She's going to play in matches."

Hazuki twitched as she felt all eyes on her. She knew that they were only curious, but she didn't like it all the same. Well, at least it wasn't as bad as the situation that morning.

_It's the girl from class this morning_, Kuroko thought.

_A girl?! Seriously?!_ Kagami thought. _Are they that desperate?_

"Well, I suppose it's true that Seirin doesn't have a women's basketball team..." Tsuchida pointed out. "But still..."

"Don't worry you guys, I tested her this morning. Right?" Riko nodded at Hazuki. Hazuki nodded, then startled again.

_Oh shoot. She forgot to tell Riko to not tell anyone about her relationship with the Seirin basketball club's founder._ Hazuki doubted she would be accepted as a real player that way since explaining her real reason for basketball would be... well difficult to explain. It wasn't really a proper reason after all.

_She must be really good or special, if coach passed her to be on the men's basketball team... _Hyuuga observed. _Hold on a second... she kinda looks familiar. _

"Anyways thats settled."

The 2nd years all looked slightly doubtfully at each other. Mitobe (in his motherly way), was already feeling nervous for the girl.

Hazuki knew that they weren't trying to be rude, and she could understand why. This type of thing was pretty strange in real life, and was only seen in TV shows, novels, or manga.

_Like gender-bender situations in sports, love and all that_, she thought, zoning off. _Except I'm actually going to be a player normally. Well you can't call it normal either. _she thought, thinking over the mini paradox and making the oddest expressions without even knowing it.

_What is she doing?_ All the students were baffled at her face that was cycling into thoughtful, troubled and then just plain odd and unreadable.

_I'll have to prove myself, _Hazuki thought. _Because of my gender, I'll have to exceed expectations to be able to reach my goal_, she remembered Riko's words.

"Now that's settled―" Riko said. (Hazuki went back to reality).

_How is that settled?!_ All the freshmen tsukkomied.

"Take off your shirts!"

"EHHHHHHH!" They yelled again. "WHYYYY?"

"Coach―" Hazuki interrupted. "Er, do I..."

The guys all turned to her in an instant. She instantly jumped.

"I checked you this morning, so it's all good."  
Most of the guys let out a sigh of disappointment.

Riko went back to inspecting.

"You. Your instantaneous strength is weak. I guess you do around 50 steps for 20 seconds on the quick ladder training, right? If you want to play basketball you'll want to improve that."

"―yes."

"You, your body is too stiff. Train your flexibility after getting out of the bath!"

"―yes..."

"As for you―"

"Are you kidding...? She's right!" Fukuda gaped.

"What the hell?!"

"Just by looking at your body?!"

"Her father is a sports trainer," The captain explained. "He was already recording data in order to make training menus. She gained that skill after spending every day looking at muscles and data. By looking at someone's body, she sees all its abilities and stats."

_Well that's not the only reason why she's the coach though... _Hyuuga thought wryly.

_Wow, exactly as what aniki told me,_ Hazuki thought.

Hazuki caught of the eye of one of the guys in the back row. The guy in the front row misinterpreted her intentions and turned red.  
_Isn't that the guy I met this morning?_ She thought, briefly recalling her homeroom teacher's roll call. _Kuroko Tetsuya. _

She decided to shuffle to the back, out of curiosity.

Riko was stunned as she stared at Kagami Taiga.

"What?" He asked in his gruff way.

_What in the world?! These numbers are by far above everyone else's... these aren't the stats of a boy in the first year of high school! On top of that, I can't even estimate his potential... this is... such raw talent!_

"COACH! How long are you going to daydream!"

"Sorry! So er..."

"You saw everyone right? That guy was the last."

"Ah, really? Huh?"  
"Was Kuroko-kun here?"

"Ah! That's right! The guy from Teiko Middle School―"

"EH!?"

"Teiko, you mean that Teiko!?" Hyuuga exclaimed.

"Kuroko! Is Kuroko here!?"

_Hmm? If such a great guy was here, I think I would have noticed him immediately... _Riko thought.

"I guess he taking the day off today. Well then, let's start practice!"

"Um coach?" Hazuki said.

"Yes?"

"Kuroko is right there," Hazuki pointed at him who was right next to her.

_She noticed me again_, Kuroko thought in surprise (but obviously not showing it).

"Yes, I am Kuroko." He raised his hand.

"―KYAAAAAAA!?"

"Wah, what? Wooh!"

"Since when were you there?"

"Since the beginning," Hazuki and Kuroko said in unison. Then they looked at each other, a little surprised now.

"Seriously?! How did you see him?!"

"...?! He was always there...?" Hazuki said as if it was something normal.

_I didn't notice him in front of my eyes...?! Just now, did he say he was Kuroko?! It's like... he's invisible!?"_  
"Then that means this guy is from the Generation of Miracles?!"

"He can't have been a regular..."

"Of course not. Right Kuroko-kun?" Hyuuga said.

"...? I have played in matches though."

"See just what... huh?"

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

"EHHH!?

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!"

"Wait! Take off your shirt!" Riko yelled.

"Eh?" Kuroko asked.

The coach stared in shock.

What in the world is this guy...?! Kagami thought. What is the Generation of Miracles and Teiko Middle School? He decided to ask someone―

* * *

_Maji Burger thankfully isn't crowded_, Hazuki thought,

She sighed as she took her chocolate milkshake. Today's practice was more of the basics, and an explanation of what to expect. She didn't have much of a chance to show her potential to be accepted.

"I'll make it tomorrow," She whispered.

She startled slightly as she spotted a familiar looking boy with ghostly blue hair.

"Excuse me," She said. "May I sit here?"

Kuroko blinked, "Yes, of course."

Hazuki was relieved. At least she was sitting with someone instead of walking home during traffic hour.

* * *

**_A few minutes later..._**

Kagami was in Maji Burger carrying his order of a small mountain of burgers.

The Generation of Miracles, if it's these guys then maybe... Kagami thought.

"GWOH!?" Kagami choked.

"Hello. You are still growing up, right?" Kuroko looked at his mountain of burgers.

"Hello," Hazuki stared at his burgers. Even Teppei didn't eat that much.

"Where from... wait, what are you doing here?"  
"Well, I was sitting there from the beginning just watching people. And Fujidana-san joined me."

_This guy was from the best of Japan?! _

_Wait?! Watching people!?"_

"Aren't you Kagami Taiga-kun?" Hazuki asked. "Aren't all three of us in the same class?"  
"EHHH!? Seriously?!" Kagami exclaimed.

Hazuki nodded, "Kuroko-kun sits behind you and I sit besides Kuroko."

"How in the world am I supposed to know that?!"

"Well we are in your class, wouldn't you notice we're your classmates?" Kuroko asked.  
"Shut― shut up!"

...

" Anyways, tag along with me for a bit, once I'm done eating that."

"..." Kuroko and Hazuki looked at each other.

* * *

Aida Riko was frowning in puzzlement.

_...What does that mean? What kind of guy is he?_ Riko thought to herself as she walked home. _His abilities are way too low! All his abilities are below average. On top of that he's already at the peak of his growth... he looks nothing like a regular of the strongest team of Japan!_

_...What in the world?!..._

* * *

"...You. What the hell are you hiding?" Kagami demanded.

"?"

"I was in America until the second year of middle school. I was really shocked when I came back to Japan. The level is just too low. What I'm looking for is not playing basketball for fun. I want to play in matches that make my blood boil at full strength."

Hazuki stood on the sidelines silently but raised an eyebrow. That kinda sounded contradictory. But it also almost sounded similar to her brother's ideals, if he didn't talk about the not fun part.

"But I've heard a nice thing earlier. It seems like there are strong guys called the 'Generation of Miracles' in the same year. You were on that team, right? I can guess the strength of an opponent to some extent too. It's like strong guys have a peculiar smell on them." Kagami threw the basketball to Kuroko.

"But you're weird. Even though you should reek of weakness... you don't smell like anything at all. Your strength is odorless. I want to see for myself. You, from the 'Generation of Miracles', what kind of guy you are."

"...What a coincidence. I was thinking of playing against you as well. A one-on-one." Kuroko threw off his Gakuran jacket.

A minute later, Kagami dunked.

Wait... "Hah!?"

_He... He... He's desperately weak! Even with that body size, there are guys who became first-class players thanks to their skills. But that guy... his dribbles and shoots are those of an amateur. He's got nothing redeeming. He's not even worth playing against!_

Hazuki observed this situation. To the average passerby, it may have seemed obvious that Kuroko was insanely weak, but with her intuition, she doubted Kuroko was the type to lie on being a first string member in Teiko. She also thought there could possibly be more to this―

After all, her brother had faced the Generation of Miracles' strength directly.

"Don't mess with ME!" Kagami yelled. "Did you hear what I said?! You're overestimating yourself if you think you can win against me like that!"

"Of course not," Kuroko replied calmly. "Isn't it obvious that Kagami-kun is the strongest?"

"Are you picking a fight...! WHAT'S YOUR GOAL!?" Angry tick marks spurted on his face.

"I wanted to see Kagami-kun's strength directly. Ah, and your dunks too."

_Geez, what the hell am I doing... He's just weak to the point that he doesn't smell like anything at all. I feel like an idiot... _

"Errr..."  
"It's alright already."

"I'm not interested in weak guys. I'll give you one last advice. And that goes to you too," Kagami looked at Hazuki.

"It's better if both of you give up on basketball. No matter what kind of beautiful things you can say about effort, it's an undeniable fact that you need talent in our society."

Kagami then turned to Kuroko. "You. Have no talent for basketball." He spinned the ball on his fingertip.

_So basically he's saying that I'm weak without even trying to play against me. _

"I have to say no to that." Kuroko said.

"...?!"

"To begin with, I love basketball. On top of that―"

Hazuki launched forward and slapped the ball away from Kagami.

"Wha―"

She dribbled in patience and stared intensely at Kagami, obviously waiting for him to come. There was a fire lit in her eyes, despite her calm stature.

Tick marks appeared on his head again.

"Are YOU trying to pick a fight?!" He charged.

Hazuki glowered back. She had never felt this furious in a long long time. _Not ever since―_

She fell on the left so suddenly and quickly that Kagami startled. Was she fainting?

"Oi―"

Hazuk whipped to the right, sped into a turnaround and put herself in a shooting position.

_What the hell?_

Kagami quickly went back to guard and jumped. _She's fast, but that won't cut it!_

Hazuki just ran past him and sped down the court. _Wha―_

Swish. She executed a layup.

The ball bounced in place and she shot it back to the shocked Kagami.

She picked up her school bag, "See you tomorrow." She said without even looking at his face.

"Bye Kuroko-kun." Hazuki looked into his ghostly blue eyes. There was no hint of what he thinking, but she hoped her message got through.

_To not give up no matter who you are._

But of course, Kuroko Tetsuya already knew this.

* * *

It was the next day of school, and it was heavily raining after school.

"We still have time in our training, but we can't go outside for conditioning... what should we do coach?" Hyuuga asked.

_I wanted to see the the strength of the freshmen... _Riko thought. "It might be a good opportunity."

"Let's have a 5 VS 5 Mini-game! With the freshmen against the 2nd years."

"A match against the Senpais, that means...!" Kawahara gasped.

"Do you remember what they told us when we joined the club?" Another boy remembered. "Their result for last year... Last year, with only freshmen, they made it until the final league!"

_A lot of that included aniki,_ Hazuki remembered. _His teammates were very good as well... until they met that person,_ she thought unusually darkly.

"Seriously?!"

"..."

"That's completely out of the ordinary..."

_...Well, then I wonder, how good our rookies are? And especially Fujidana, and how she'll be on the court with a team. _

Kagami glowered. What the hell was that from that girl yesterday? _Well, I had underestimated her... _

But he was still irritated.

"It's not the time to be scared. Of course it's better if the opponent is strong rather than weak, right?! Let's go!" Kagami shouted.

Kagami, Kuroko and Hazuki were one of the freshmen on the starting line.

"TIPOFF!"  
Kagami immediately knocked the ball in the freshmen's possession.

"WOOOH!"

Kagami immediately dunked in the basket.

"WAAH! WHAT WAS THAT DUNK!"

"AWESOME!"

"...! It's more than I could have ever imagined! With that yet unpolished sense of play and destructive power!"

"Hey that's insane..." Hyuuga muttered. _His firepower is seriously that of a monster!_

"The freshmen are in the lead!?"  
"But well, Kagami is the only one scoring!"

_Not for long_, Hazuki thought. _He's not going to take away my only chance._

WHAP!

Hazuki whipped away the ball from Koganei and raced down the court.

"Whoa! That girl stole the ball!"  
"She's fast!"

Izuki speeded up and tried to block her. Hazuki immediately leaned parallel, like she was fainting. _What?_ Izuki thought.

Then she flexed her legs up in the opposite direction and twisted around him.

_As expected of flexibility like those,_ Riko scanned her legs to make sure. _Girls have more flexibility in their legs than guys but her's is more than above average. But her sense of balance especially helps her in those fakes! Fujidana-san's odd skill really is something... it has a lot of potential. _

Hazuki shot near the foul line and scored.

The bystanders looked in awe. Hazuki was keeping up perfectly with the other guys, no she was even faster in returning to the opposite side of the court!

_Well, she isn't bad, I admit,_ Kagami thought grudging. _But rather than that..._

_SHIT! THIS CAN'T HELP GETTING ON MY NERVES. _

Bam!

Izuki shot his hand and stole the ball from Kuroko.

"The ball was stolen?! From this guy again!" One of the freshmen criticized.

"Focus!"

Compared to the big things he said, he's just a shitty player... guys who talk big despite being small fries...

"―IRRITATE ME THE MOST!"

"!"

"SO HIGH!"  
"THEY CAN'T STOP KAGAMI AT ALL!"

"We can't let it go that way," Hyuuga grinned. "I think it's about time we calm you down!"  
Tsuchida, Koganei and Izuki zoned on him.

"THREE GUYS?!"

"...!"  
"IF THEY GO THAT FAR, KAGAMI, ON TOP OF THAT―"

"EVEN WHEN HE DOESN'T HAVE THE BALL, STILL TWO GUYS... THEY DON'T FEEL LIKE LETTING HIM TOUCH THE BALL AT ALL!"  
"AND THE CAPTAIN'S GUARDING FUJIDANA, THE ONLY OTHER SCORER!"

"...!"

_Now this'll be harder,_ Hazuki thought, half-laughing and grimacing. _The captain that aniki acknowledges... and he was certainly an excellent player the last time I saw him._

Hyuuga flinched in surprise... _this girl really looks like someone I know._

* * *

But a few minutes, later, the second years continued to score and steal balls from Kagami. Hazuki managed to score a couple of times which prevented the score from looking too ugly, but...

20-31.

"They're really strong after all..." Fukuda groaned.

"There was no way from them to win from the start," Kawahara moaned from the sidelines.

"It's enough already―" Furihata muttered.

"ENOUGH ALREADY?! WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THAT?!" Kagami grabbed Furihata's shirt.

"Please calm down," Kuroko kneed Kagami's legs so he buckled.

ACK! The freshmen trio gaped.

_Well,_ Hazuki thought.

"You bastard..."

"Seems like there's a dispute."

The freshmen trio tried pulling Kagami back with all their might while Kagami was― trying his best to beat up Kuroko.

"Um, you might want to calm down―" Hazuki suggested, pressing his forehead backwards with both hand, of course causing the opposite effect.

"LET ME GO GET THAT BAS―"

"Kuroko... now that I think about it he was there too..." Riko sweatdropped. "Even I, the referee completely forgot about him at some point..."

...

_Hmm?!_ Her whistle fell out of her mouth in shock.

_Huh? Seriously, since when?! ...It can't be..._

"Excuse me, could you pass me the ball?" Kuroko asked Fukuda.

"Hah?"

"Do your best! Still 3 minutes!" Kawahara yelled.

_But it's not like you'll be able to do anything even if you get it? _Fukuda thought in bewilderment as he passed. _At least don't lose it..._

What is that uncomfortable feeling? Could it be... something unthinkable is about to happen?!

WHOOSH!

The ball slipped to Furihata's hands in in a second.

"Eh? Ah!" He scored a basket.

"...Eh... wha..."

"It's in?! How did he get that pass through just now?! I don't know, I didn't see!"  
_Kuroko-kun,_ Hazuki thought, in slight bewilderment yet understanding. _I see. So that's what his skills are. _

WHOOSH.

Bang. WHOOSH.

"HOW THE HELL DOES HE DO THAT?!"

"BEFORE YOU EVEN NOTICE IT, THE PASS GOES THROUGH AND THEY SCORE!?"

_He's making use of his lack of presence to relay passes?! On top of that, the time he keeps the all is extremely short! ...Then it can't be that this guy... he's already hard to notice from the beginning... and he becomes even more invisible!?_

"Misdirection."

_He's using that magic like technique to fool the senses of the opponent. Using misdirection, he leads the opponent to think not about him, but another player will get the ball._

_In other words... rather than saying he is invisible during matches, you can say he's encouraging the opponent to focus on other players than him! _

_This is Kuroko's... _Kagami gaped.

_The former regular from Teiko Middle School who specialized in circulating passes without being seen...! I knew the rumor, but I didn't think he actually existed. _

_The sixth phantom member of the Generation of Miracles!  
_

The ball shot into Hazuki's hands.

"Ah!"

_Damn... we're focusing too much on Kuroko's passes!_ Hyuuga thought.

"Fujidana!"

Her basket shot in perfectly.

"Waah! I can't believe it!"  
"One point of difference!?"

"Damn, each one of them would be bothersome on their own... but..."

With Kagami and Fujidana coordinating with Kuroko, we have no way to stop these attacks.

"Tch!" Izuki said.

"IDIOT!" Hyuuga yelled.

Kuroko stole the ball immediately and dashed down the court.

"WHOOH!"  
"GO KUROKO!"

"WIN―"

The ball bounced off the rim.

"THAT'S WHY WEAK GUYS ANNOY ME THE MOST. SCORE PROPERLY IDIOT!" Kagami dunked while Kuroko gave a small smile.

"WAAH!"  
"THE FRESHMEN WON!?"

"Haha! Those guys..." Hyuuga muttered.

_Well... as allies, they'll be reliable..._

* * *

"..." Kagami sweatdropped.

He was in Maji Burget again, sitting in front of that invisible guy and the girl player on their team.

"...Why are you there again..."

"You are the one who came to sit at our table," Kuroko pointed out. "And it's because I like the vanilla shake here."  
"And I like the chocolate shake."

"Go sit somewhere else."

"No."  
"Why?"

"Don't think we're friends now―"  
"Like I said we were the first ones to sit here..."

"..." Tick marks popped on Kagami's face again.

Kagami picked up two burgers and tossed them towards Kuroko and Hazuki.

"Here. I'm, er sorry about the other time, when I underestimated you," He told Hazuki.  
"Oh... that?" Hazuki said slowly, as if she was processing the information. The she put her elbows on the table and stared at Kagami thoughtfully.

"Wha... what?"

"Well, that was slightly unexpected..."

"Give me my burger back!"  
"I'm kidding," She chuckled. "Thank you very much..."  
_Right..._ Kagami thought. _A bit of a weirdo when she talks and when she plays basketball. Well I was taught basketball by a woman. And at least I apologized. _

"Well... this is for you because," He gestured at Kuroko. "I'm not interested in weak guys. But I'll acknowledge you're worth one piece of all that."

"...Thank you."

Hazuki smiled.

"What?" Kagami demanded.

"... Hrm? Nothing."

* * *

"How strong is the Generation of Miracles?" Kagami asked while they were leaving.

"?"

"Say, if I was to go against them right now, what would happen?"  
"...You would be instantly killed." Kuroko drank his vanilla milkshake.  
_Never spoken in a truer way_, Hazuki thought, drinking her chocolate milkshake and recalling some memories of her brother's stories.

"Can you say that in a different way..."

"On top of that, the five geniuses have all joined different veteran schools this year. There is no mistaking that one of them will be standing at the top."  
"...Hahahaha! Nice! I'm burning! I've decided! I'll take all these guys down and become the number one in Japan!"

"I think it's impossible."

"OI!"

"I don't know about the potential of your abilities, but with your current level, you can't hold a candle to any of them. It's impossible... alone. I have decided as well."

"I am a supporting actor, a shadow. But... a shadow will become darker if the light is stronger. And it will make the white of the light stand out. As the shadow of the main actor, I will make you the light, the number one in Japan."

"HA! Nice words―"

"STOP!"

Hazuki raised her hand while sipping her shake, like she was about to take an oath right in between the two boys.

"Eh?"

"Ah?"

(And the dramatic moment was ruined.)

"What the hell did you stop us for?!"

"Sorry. I mean, it was going nicely and dramatic (just like a manga scene), but..."

"And why are you drinking your shake while talking?!" Kagami tsukommied.

Hazuki stopped drinking.

"Sorry. I was preoccupied by an important thought that's been on my mind since yesterday."

"Er... that's not what I meant... wait WHAT?"

"That's not what I was talking about," Hazuki interrupted. "Remember yesterday, Kagami-kun?"  
"So what about yesterday?"

"You said that you didn't play basketball for fun, right?"

"...Right?"

"Then why are you even playing basketball if you don't have fun? It just didn't make sense to me."

"...What?!"

"I hate to say it, but it's been on my mind all day," Hazuki looked at Kagami seriously which surprised the both of them suddenly with her change of atmosphere. "Why do you play basketball if you don't like it?"

Hazuki stared intently at Kagami with pondering eyes.  
_What's with this change of pace?_ Kagami thought, twitching.

"Tsk, I just want to play a more serious game that really gets me going..."

"WELL, then why didn't you say so?"  
"HAH?"

"It's just been on my mind. Doing something that you're talented at, but not enjoying yourself... your words have been stuck in my mind for the entire day. Well, it's a relief to know that you love basketball at least."

_And it's good to know that you're serious about doing something in the club Teppei created._

"...What?" Kagami was irritated and baffled at the change of pace. And being a bakagami, he didn't really process what she said.

"..." Kuroko looked with unblinking but thoughtful eyes.

"Sorry for ignoring you Kuroko-kun," Hazuki said, surprising him for the fourth time since their first meeting.

"But what I was also going to say was, I've decided too."

"I'll work with you guys together, and we'll become No. 1."

They looked at her for a moment with no doubt in the meaning of her words.

Kagami snorted, "Just do what you want."  
"I will. How about you Kuroko-kun?"

Kuroko blinked.

"I will do my best."

Hazuki held her hand out in a fist and smiled.

Kagami snorted as he held out his fist and Kuroko smiled.

The strongest five players... will be challenged by this dark horse of a trio!

* * *

10 PM:

_Oh shoot._

BAM. Bam. BAM.

Hazuki couldn't help banging her head against the wall.

_I completely forgot coach to not tell anyone about my relations with Teppei. _

Hazuki stared at the pillow on her futon and stared intently at it, trying not to sweatdrop...

...

_I'll tell her tomorrow_, she collapsed onto her pillow.

* * *

**Not bad I hope! If there are any corrections, I won't hesitate to correct them... thank you very much for this.**

**And I hope Hazuki isn't a Mary-Sue. Updates will be fairly slow, because the first chapters have quite a length to them, and I don't want to lose any details from the Teiko arc.**

**If you have any ideas or inspirations please don't hesitate to review! m(_ _)m**

**Thank you!**

***Scary is kowai in Japanese, which sounds like Kawaii. Cute Izuki!**


	2. Monday at 8:40 on the Rooftop

**Bwahaha. Isn't it amazing to put two chapters in one go? I seriously like OC's. But only if they're not Mary-Sues. By the way, the fan art for the fanfiction profile is mine~ I really like fandoms and our excessive love for them. Of course, reviews are very much appreciated. And so are ideas.**

* * *

**Chapter 2 - Monday at 8:40 on the Rooftop**

**"HA?! WHY THE HE... W... TELL MY WHY, CAPTAIN? WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME...!"**

Kagami was completely freaking out at the news that he couldn't play in games to Hyuuga. All the passer bys jumped at the sudden exclaim. Which was normal of course. How could anyone not react to a 190 cm tall boy with a resemblance of a wild tiger?

"Ah, that's not it. You freshmen are still temporary members of the club, you know!? You're not proper members yet. That's what I told Kuroko and Fujidana earlier."

"Hah?"

* * *

"Alright, this one improved just like I thought... bringing up guys is so nice... fufufu." Riko was giggling, drunk on stupor.  
**"COACH!"**

**"SPUH!"** Riko spit her milk out.  
**"MAKE ME A REAL CLUB MEMBER!"**

"**AGH! DIRTY!** Geez, what's happening today. You too!?"  
"Too?"  
"Kuroko-kun came to say the same thing earlier!" She shuddered as she recalled Kuroko popping out of nowhere and making her spit her milk out again. "And Fujidana-san too!"

* * *

_"Coach, I'd like to be a real member of the basketball team please," Hazuki appeared behind Riko._

_"SPUH! Wait a second, how'd you get there?"_

_"I came from the backdoor of the classroom. Coach, your words were so misleading..."_

_"Hah?"_  
_"You said I passed the first day of school..."_

_"Ara? Wait, I did."_

_"Then..."_

_"Ah, this is the official initiation, I'll collect your form on Monday, 8:40 on the roof~"_

_"I... I see," Hazuki twitched as she remembered her brother's tales that made no sense. She recalled that he mentioned something about a ritual that required... stripping naked if they all lost. She thought he was speaking in his cryptic and joking tone at the time. Now she connected all the dots. Yep. _

_"By the way coach... can you not tell my brother... about me being in the basketball club?"_

_"SPUH!" What was with these siblings suddenly dropping random bombshells without any warning?_

_"What, you didn't tell him in the first place?!"_

_"Well... he would probably stop me."_

_"Ah... er..."_  
_"So can you not tell him? I will tell him eventually."_  
_"Well. It's true that he'll probably stop you..."_  
_"I wanted to get some good results and prove to him that I can still play in a game that's wasn't made for me."_  
_Riko sighed, "I understand." Teppei would definitely stop her, especially because of the goal she had..._

_"Well, you have to promise me one thing though."_

_"?"_

* * *

"Those guys..."

"Geez, the three of you are so hasty! Are you kids?" Riko scolded then shuddered remembering Kuroko's ghostly presence once more.

"What the hell are you saying..."

"Well, you've got firepower, and there's free space on the bench, so here you go. Be my guest."

"I'll be able to play in matches like this!"  
"Ah, wait a second. I'll only accept your form on Monday, at 8:40 on the roof."  
"...?"

After leaving the classroom, Kagami spotted the Seirin Student newspaper.

**Men's basketball Rookie Game "Kanto Tournament Debut!"**

"He wasn't kidding huh, this basketball club is pretty strong."

"They are strong," Kuroko said.

**"BASTARD! APPEAR NORMALLY! STOP JUMPING OUT OF NOWHERE!"**

(They're right next to the library.)

Hazuki jumped and nearly fell out of the chair, "Kagami-kun?"

"Shh," Kuroko hushed and pointed at the library sign.

"You're picking a fight with me right?** ANSWER ME**!"

"I'm not."

Hazuki bolted out of the library at once and was startled to see Kagami's hand crushing on Kuroko's head.

"Erm, what's going on?"

Kagami let go and snarled at the newly arrived Hazuki out of reflex.

"Eh?"

"That hurt," Kuroko rubbed the bruise on his head. "Hello, Fujidana-san."

_I seriously can't believe it... this guy who is usually invisible, is actually the phantom sixth player from the Generation of Miracles.._. Kagami scowled. _How did that happen anyways? Didn't the rest of Generation of Miracles enroll in veteran schools?_

"Are you alright Kuroko-kun?" Hazuki asked anxiously.

"Yes."

"Hrm, you might want to go to the nurse, just in case," Hazuki pulled Kuroko's arm in the opposite direction. "It's important to check just in case, when you get hurt, Kuroko-kun. See you Kagami-kun."

"Fujidana-san, it's not that serious―"

"No you're getting it checked," Hazuki pulled him along in the opposite direction of Kagami. "Especially if you're the one who says it hurts."

"But―"

"Nope."

_Why didn't that guy go with the other Teiko players?_ Kagami pondered.

"Hey Kuroko―"

There was no one in the hallway.

"Ah well, that doesn't matter... the most important thing is..."

_The next time we meet, I'll kill him!_ Kagami pulled off and bent the railings on the wall.

* * *

Kuroko felt a chill all of a sudden as Hazuki checked his head carefully in the nurse's office. (The nurse was out.)

"What's wrong Kuroko-kun? Does it hurt?"  
"No, I just had an ominous feeling."

"I see," Hazuki said. "Well, it looks like you're fine."  
"I told you I was fine," Kuroko replied, not unkindly, but in his normal bland tone.

"Like I said, it's important to check these things." Hazuki said shortly, her tone a little curt and stiff.

"..."

"By the way, can I ask you something Kuroko-kun?"  
"Sure?"  
"Why..." Hazuki's back was turned.

"Yes?" He asked gently.

Hazuki turned back around and gave the most baffled face he'd ever seen."Why was Kagami-kun pulling your head and yelling in front of the library?"  
"...I have no idea."

* * *

**Monday, 8:40**

"Fu, fu fu," Riko cackled. "I was waiting!"  
_Woosh!_ The wind blew by dramatically, and enhanced the evilness on Riko's face.

_Teppei did tell me about this, But I didn't quite believe it... until now. And those words she told me the day I tried out for basketball were too misleading!_

"Are you stupid?" Kagami sweatdropped.

"Is this a duel?" Kuroko asked.

"I forgot all about it, but Monday... **THE MORNING ASSEMBLY IS IN FIVE MINUTES!**"  
(_**MINUTES**, **minutes**, minutes..._) His yell echoed all over campus.

"Hurry up and take it."

"Before that, I have something to tell you," Riko said.

"Eh?" All the freshmen asked.  
"Last year, I made a promise when the captain asked me to become their coach. I promised to solely push the team towards the national championships! If you're not ready for this, feel free to go to another club!" She gestured towards the exit of the rooftop.

"What?" Kagami snorted. "Of course I'm―"

"I know you guys are strong. But I want to check something more important than that. No matter how hard you practice, 'someday' and 'maybe' aren't good enough. I need to know you have ambitious goals and the will to accomplish them. Give me your class number! Your name! And your goal for this year! (By the way, all second years including me did the same thing last year!)

And if you fail to achieve them... you'll come back up here, strip naked, and confess your feelings for the person you love!"

**"EHHHHH!"** Furihata, Kawahara, and Fukuda yelled.  
"...Hah?" Kagami said.

_As expected_, Hazuki thought, with a sweatdrop on her head. _At least I had time beforehand to prepare what I had to say. _

"All of the second years did it last year!" Riko said.

"What? No one told me about this." Furihata gaped.

"I heard about it when they recruited me," Fukuda sweatdropped.

"But I didn't think they'd actually..."

"Like I said before, I'm looking for something concrete and reasonably ambitious. You'll have to do better than 'play my first game', 'or I'll do my best'."

"Isn't that too easy? It won't even be a test." Kagami strided forward and leaped onto the railing.

"**CLASS 1-B, SEAT 8, KAGAMI TAIGA! I WILL DEFEAT THE 'GENERATION OF MIRACLES' AND BECOME THE NUMBER ONE IN JAPAN!**"

"!?" The crowds below stared at the roof.

_Waah, they're doing it again this year too after all_, Hyuuga thought while he facepalmed. The rest of the basketball team grinned as they stared at the rooftop.

"So who's next?" Riko scrutinized the freshmen. "If you don't hurry up, a teacher will come."

Was it impossible for Kuroko-kun and Fujidana-san too? Could Fujidana not be bold enough to say that particular goal of hers?

"..."

But Hazuki couldn't help smiling as she reflected on the irony of yelling in front of crowds compared to her fear of being in crowds.

Hazuki wordlessly leaped forward and jumped over the railing.

"WHA―" Riko gasped.  
"That's just reckless!" Kawahara said.

"**FUJIDANA HAZUKI, CLASS 1-B, SEAT 18! I WILL DEFEAT 'THE CROWNLESS GENERALS OF JAPAN!**"

"Wha―" The 2nd years were shocked by that statement except for Riko.

"Guts," Riko grinned. "Quite some guts."

"Wow, that was unexpected," Koganei commented to Izuki. "So that's why she joined a boy's basketball team."

"Ye... yeah." Izuki frowned. That was strange, if her goal was to defeat the Crownless Generals, then why didn't she know that one of them went to Seirin?

Hazuki finally climbed over the railing and collapsed onto the floor, panting.

"Are you alright?" Riko asked frantically.

"I'm fine, but the roof was unexpectedly high."  
"Then why did you jump over the railing?" Kagami asked.

"Well... I couldn't be outdone by you, could I?"

"..."

"Thanks Kuroko-kun," She said as he helped her up.

Kagami shook his head at her logic.

"Well, the rest of you?" Riko asked.

"Excuse me..." Furihata raised his hand. "Could I say I want a girlfriend?"

**"NO."**

He lowered his hand, depressed.

"What else do you have?"

"I...I've got one," Kawahara stammered.  
"Okay!" Furihata said.

"You can do it!" Fukuda cheered.

"Class 1-A, Kawahara Koichi, from Chou-ku, Tokyo. I was a sickly kid, so I couldn't play sports. Things started to change for me in elementary school... I'll never forget the All-Star game I saw at school in 5th grade! It was the first time I ever thought basketball was cool..."

Shoujo bubbles began blossoming around him beautifully with his dramatic recital.

"―I joined my school's basketball club in middle school, but I wasn't very good. I was always dragging my team down, and I was miserable. **But!"**

**BAM!** Riko kicked him down.

**"NEXT!"**

"Um, I want a girlfriend," Furihata raised his hand.

"I told you, **NO!**"

"Class 1-D, Fukuda Hiroshi. I like helping others, so when I heard an upperclassman asking for help, I immediately offered my assistance!"

"...Who knew he'd take my joke seriously?" Izuki said.

"...He must have not understood your joke." Koganei replied, recalling Izuki's puns.

"..."

* * *

"Class 1-D, Furihata Kouki. The girl I like said she'd go out with me if I became the best at something. That's why I joined the basketball team to become number one!"

"It thats not good enough, I don't mind if I can't join the team."

"I guess I'm moved. Who's next?"  
"Excuse me," Kuroko said.

**"EEP!"**

"I'm not very good at shouting, so could I use this?" He held up a megaphone.

"...Where did you get that?"

Kuroko took a deep breath and then―

**"KORAAA! THE BASKETBALL TEAM AGAIN!"**

"Tchh. We were almost finished!"

They were all forced to sit seiza and listen to a bunch of scolding. Kagami yawned and seemed bored in contrast to the

freshmen trio who were freaking out at the scolding. Kuroko was being passive as usual and Hazuki was about to fall asleep.

"**I** **warned you last year.** Didn't you say you'd **never** do this again?!"

_Nope_, Hazuki thought as she began to doze off because how early she got that morning. _I think they'll keep it as a tradition._

Riko sulked more and more as he continued to shout while they were sitting in their seiza poses.

**"And you should know what's right and wrong at your age!"**

* * *

"Fujidana-san, that was amazing! I didn't know you joined the basketball club as a member!"  
"Er, thank you? Um...?"

After their excellent stunt in front of the whole school, many students were now starting to crowd around their classroom, especially since they had Kagami as well.

"Well, that's to be expected, huh?" Kagami snorted while Hazuki was getting more and more ill because of the pouring visitors.

"So you're going to playing as a member huh?" A girl that looked like a delinquent said with no bad intent that was mismatched with her aura. "Well it's true that Seirin doesn't have a girls basketball team."

"Um..."

"I was standing far away, so I didn't really hear you... it seems like the basketball team has a tradition of making new members shout their goals on the rooftop! So what was yours?!" A peppy looking classmate jumped onto her desk.

They were edging in closer and closer. She knew they were genuinely curious and had no bad intentions but...

_Ack_, Hazuki thought, **_ACK!_**

"Um, I need to go now," Hazuki said shakily. "I need to get some... um..."  
She trailed off and rushed towards the backdoor. Hazuki ran and ran until she found an empty hallway.  
_This was what I was afraid of_, Hazuki wiped her sweaty head with a handkerchief. _Let this school be over quickly..._

"Eh? What the hell was that?" The delinquent girl asked.

"I think you guys were crowding her a little too much," Kuroko said.

"WAH! When were you there!?"

"Since the beginning..." Then Kuroko glanced at the door where Hazuki had exited so quickly.

* * *

**_After school: Maji Burger._**

Kagami carried his usual mountain of burgers and sat in front of Kuroko once more.

"Tch, I can't believe he got so mad over a little shouting."

"I didn't even finish, and I got in trouble too," Kuroko sipped his milkshake.

**"BLURGH!"**

"Here." Hazuki was back from the restroom and gave Kagami his soda, just in time.

He snatched it and gulped down his drink for five seconds.

"You again?! And you too, Fujidana?!" _Should I just change stores..._

"Yep," Hazuki couldn't resist adding as she sat down.

"Seriously? Are you guys going out or something?"

"No."

"No."

"Hah?" Kagami stared over his pile of burgers.

"And it has become quite a problem."

"Yes it has, wait, what?!"

"We're not allowed on the roof anymore. What will we do if we can't join the basketball team?"

"That's not gonna happen."

"...We'll see."

"By the way, Fujidana, why did you join the men's basketball team in Seirin?"

Hazuki blinked at the sudden attention to her then sipped her chocolate shake.

"Seirin doesn't have a women's basketball team."

"...What was your goal anyways? Something about crowning an army?"

Hazuki put down her milkshake.

"...Wow, Kagami-kun, your Japanese is pretty good for a returnee."

**"What does that have to do with anything!?"**

Kagami rolled his eyes, and being Kagami, his attention was returned to Kuroko, which he was more curious about.

"By the way, why didn't you go to some big name school like the other five guys? You were good enough to be known as the phantom sixth member."

Kuroko stared at him for a second, then sipped his shake. Hazuki sat up a little straighter.

"Is there some reason you play basketball?"

"...My middle school's basketball team had one core principle. Instead of teamwork, we needed to push the individual talents of the Generation of Miracles to win. Nothing could beat us, but we weren't a team. The five of them approved, but I felt we lacked something important."  
"..." Hazuki sipped her shake.

"So, what? Are you gonna beat the Generation of Miracles in your own way?"

"...I used to think like that, but..."

"Seriously?"

"Your words and the coach's words really struck me." Kuroko said.

"Now my biggest reason to play is trying to make you and our team the best in Japan."

Hazuki smiled.

"We're not gonna just try, Kuroko-kun." Hazuki said.

**"We're gonna be the best,"** Kagami declared.

Kuroko couldn't help but smile.

"Well see you tomorrow," Hazuki waved to Kagami.

"See you," Kagami left.

Kuroko then turned to Hazuki and gave her the most serious face she'd ever seen (actually even more than his usual poker face, if that was even possible).

"By the way, I want to apologize for something, Fujidana-san."

"Er, eh?" Hazuki was startled. What did Kuroko ever do?

"Last week, I didn't walk you home."

"...?"

"It's not safe for girls to walk home on their own so late you know."

"..."

"...Pft!" She tried not to laugh.

"What's wrong?"

"Sorry, but I wasn't expecting that. Thank you for your consideration, but I'm fine."

"It's not good though," Kuroko insisted.

"...Well alright then," Hazuki smiled. "Thank you."  
She would never admit it, but she was relieved. If the way home was crowded, she would have been in a bad situation if she was on her own.

Huh... she thought. She suddenly (and randomly) recalled the coach's words after she tried to deliver her basketball forms a few days ago.

* * *

_"You can't tell anyone you're Teppei's sister!"_

_"..Eh? Well I wasn't planning to... and I was going to ask you to not tell anyone in the first place anyways."_  
_"Oh really? That's a good coincidence."_

_"Well, I don't think they would treat me as a real player as much if I told them... but was that your reason, Coach?"_

_"Ah no, I just think it's more interesting that way. When Teppei comes back, and they find out, I'll be able to get a lot of interesting reactions. Fu, fu fu fu..."_  
_"...? Um..."_

_"Well, I personally don't think our team would treat you any differently. You've proven your worth in practice after all. But still don't tell anyone!"_

_"...Oh. Okay...?"_

* * *

"What's wrong?" Kuroko asked Hazuki, who was staring off into space.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all."

**Just some chaos when aniki comes back.**

* * *

**Chapter 2! Bwahahaha! **

**In case you don't know, aniki means big brother, but it's a more manly tone (yakuza lol) ****than oni-chan or oni-san. Riko is so funny. She sure likes messy around with the basketball boys with her ****lariats, and boston crab holds and of course their minds. And now that there's potential drama, of course she'll go for it. **

**Review? :) :) :)**


	3. I am Serious: The Fangirls will get me

**R/R please?**

* * *

**Chapter 3 - I am Serious**

It was after school, and they were preparing for practice. In the Boy's locker room, Koganei spotted an old Monthly Basketball Magazine.

"Didn't this issue come out when Kuroko was at Teiko?" He passed it to Hyuuga and they flipped the featuring pages.

"Eh, Kuroko isn't here?"

"Even though you were the sixth man on the team?"

"They did, but they forgot about me."

_So sad..._ Izuki, Hyuuga and Koganei lamented while Koganei sobbed in pity.

"Besides, I'm nothing like the other five. They're true prodigies."

"**SHE'S BACK! THE COACH IS BACK!** We're gonna play a practice game!" Fukuda ran in.

"Oh! I wonder who we're playing against."

"Who knows... but coach was skipping though."

"She was skipping?!"

"..."

"Be ready, everyone. If she's skipping, our next opponent's gonna be real tough."

* * *

"Oooh. So this is Seirin. As expected from a new school, it looks nice."

Girls began gasping as a hot and blonde guy strolled into their school.

**"Isn't he hot?"**

**"Kya!"**

**"And tall... wait, isn't he that model...!"**

* * *

**In the Seirin gym...**

Shoes squeaked in the gym as Seirin began to practice. Kuroko passed to Kagami and he sprinted past Izuki.

"Not yet!"

Kagami sped into a turnaround a dunked the ball.

**"...Fast!"**

Kise looked down from the balcony with interest. "Huh... not bad. Eh, is that a girl on the court?"

"Whoa!" Fukuda yelled.

"Nice shot!"

"Incredible, he turned back even though he was going at full speed," Koganei grinned. "He's no ordinary human."  
"He might even beat the Generation of Miracles."

"He might actually be able to beat them with that!"  
"That's not an easy maneuver."

"Maybe he's better than them already."

_With your current level, you can't hold a candle to any of them..._

"...That's what I said but..." Kuroko said.

"Hrm," Hazuki looked at Kagami thoughtfully.

"Gather around everyone!"

**"A PRACTICE GAME WITH KAIJOU HIGH?!"**

"Yep! They won't disappoint us. We'll put plenty of first years on the court."  
"Disappoint us?! They're way better than us!" Koganei agonized.

"Are they really that good?" Furihata asked.

"They're strong at the national level." Hyuuga explained.

"And if I'm not wrong," Hazuki recalled some of the basketball magazines her brother had, "They play in the Inter-High every year."

"And this year, Kaijou got their hands on one of the Generation of Miracles, Kise Ryota."

"What?"

"Him?"

**"The Generation of Miracles?"**

Kagami grinned,_ I never thought I'd get to play them so soon. What a blessing._

"Apparently, Kise works as a model." Hyuuga added.

"Seriously? Amazing."

"Good looking and good at basketball? That's brutal," Koganei sighed.

"Pft," Hazuki chuckled. So guys did complain like this sometimes.

"...Idiot," Riko muttered. "Er, eh?"

A crowd of fangirls were stretching across the gym, holding papers, pencils, and giggling bashfully...

Before they even knew it, an even larger group of fangirls had gathered on the balcony over the gym.

_Gah! What's with these crowds edging in towards the gym?_ Hazuki panicked.

"Huh?" Riko gaped. "What? What are all these people doing here?"

"Uh, I didn't mean for this to happen," A blonde and handsome looking guy said sheepishly.

"That's..."

**_What is the Generation of Miracles' Kise Ryota doing here?_**

"It's good to see you again," Kuroko nodded.  
"Good to see you."

"Kise Ryota..." Hyuuga muttered.

"Sorry, really, um... Do you think you could wait for five minutes?"

* * *

_**Fifteen minutes later...**_

_Phew! All gone_, Hazuki thought.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" Hyuuga demanded.

Kise jumped off from the stage... "Ah, well, when I heard the next opponent was Seirin, I remembered it was the school Kurokocchi joined, so I thought I'd come and say hi. We were the best of friends in middle school."

"Not any more than anyone else." He replied in his blunt manner.

**"You're so mean!"** Kise sobbed.

"Kise Ryota," Furihata read. "Though he started basketball his second year of middle school, his exceptional physical ability and sense got him on the Teiko team as a regular in a heartbeat. While he has less experience than the other four, he's a rapidly improving all-rounder."

"Since your second year?!" Hyuuga asked, stunned.

"That article exaggerated quite a bit..." Kise rubbed his head in embarrassment. "I'm glad to be called part of the Generation of Miracles, but I'm the worst of the bunch. They bullied me and Kurokocchi for it all the time."

"That never happened to me," Kuroko replied bluntly again.

"What? It was just me!?" Kise sobbed, a waterfall of tears cascaded down his face.

Suddenly he snapped his eyes open a caught a basketball that had been aiming at him with amazing speed.

"Ow! What was that for?" Kise complained.

**"Kagami!"**  
**"Kagami-kun!"**

"Sorry for interrupting your little reunion. Don't tell me you came all the way here just to greet us. How about being my opponent for a bit, pretty boy."

Hazuki walked to Kagami, lifted his arm and stabbed him in the armpit.

**"OUCH! What the HELL was that for?!"**

"Well, you see, you just looked like you needed to calm down."

**"What?!"**

"**Eh?** I thought my eyes were tricking me, **but, you're a girl?"** Kise pointed at Hazuki.

"...I hope so?"

"No, that's what I meant," Kise re-explained. "This is a boy's basketball team right?"

"Yeah it officially is."

"Hah?"

"Ah, well Seirin doesn't have a girl's basketball team."

"Eh... that's interesting." Kise patted his hand on her shoulder causing an explosion in their audience. Hazuki could clearly tell that Kise thought she was joking.

"..." Hazuki was speechless.

**"IYA! Why's Kise touching that girl?"**

**"Unfair! Does he know her?"**

"Some fangirls migrated to the balcony instead of leaving," Izuki sweatdropped. "Wait! Subete the girls think Kise is Sugoi!*

"...That was so lame Izuki."

**"Izuki, disappear!"**

_Guh, _Hazuki thought, _Great. Now tomorrow at school, I'm going to be charged at. Again. This is two weeks in a row!_

"What are you doing Kise-kun?" Kuroko removed Kise's hand from her shoulder. "She clearly doesn't like it."

Everyone looked at her face, which had contorted into an emotion where it was apparant that she was going to be sick.

"Ah? That's the first time a girl has reacted like that."

_Gah, tomorrow..._ Hazuki was already far far away thinking of the rabid fangirls she would have to face.

"**What** did you do to our cute junior!?" Riko demanded indignantly.

"Her soul flew away! **No!"** Koganei shouted in angst.

"I'm dead," Hazuki whispered, not refering to Kise-kun but her fate.

"EH? What did I do?"

"...Everything Kise-kun."

**"Wah you're so mean!"**

"**Oi**, how did the subject get to this?" Kagami demanded.

"Sorry Kagami-kun. You guys were talking about going on one-on-one right?" Hazuki went back to normal.

_**She went to normal really fast! She really is a black box**...** _All the members of the Seirin team thought.

"Just like her brother." Riko muttered.

"What? I don't know if I'm ready..." Kise sighed. "Fine let's do it. I have to thank you for showing something good!"

"Unbelievable," Riko groaned.

"This could be bad," Kuroko said.

"Huh?"

Kise began to dribble the ball while in stance. He made several fakes with his eyes then went past Kagami. He began to the turnaround and dunked.

_When he has seen a play, he can make it his own in an instant._

_The Generation of Miracles_, Hazuki thought. _No wonder the Crownless Generals were overshadowed by this younger generation. _

"Wha?!" Riko gasped. This isn't just simple imitation!

_This is ridiculous! I just did that, but... you've gotta be kidding!_

"Woah! Kagami is amazing too! He reacted in time!?"

Kagami strained and reached to block.** BANG!** Kise still dunked the ball in.  
_He's quicker than me, stronger too! _

Kagami fell onto the floor.

"This is the Generation of Miracles... **Kuroko, your friend is way too good!"**

"...I don't know that person."

"Huh?"

"To be honest, I may have underestimated him until just now. It's only been a few months since I left them, but the Generation of Miracles has improved far more quickly than I expected."

"Hmm," Kise sighed. "I don't know about this. After something so disappointing, I can't just leave now. Give us Kurokocchi."

The basketball team all gasped.

Hazuki narrowed her eyes slightly and stared at Kise.

"He's not an object you know," she said.

"Eh? I didn't mean it that way!"

"You're making him sound like it." Hazuki looked at the slightly complicated emotions that briefly flickered through Kuroko's normally blank eyes. It was clear that the relationships the Generation of Miracles had with each other was not family-like or flawless as it should have been.

"Eh? That's totally wrong." He turned back to Kuroko. "I seriously respect you, Kurokocchi. It's such a waste of your talent to stay here. What do you say?"  
"I am honored to hear you say that."

**"!"**

"But I must respectfully decline your offer," Kuroko bowed politely.  
**"Doesn't that sound weird, in that context?!"**

"Besides, this isn't like you. Winning was everything. Why didn't you go to a stronger school?"

"My thinking has changed since that time. More importantly, I already made a promise with Kagami-kun and Fujidana-san. To aim for the top and defeat the Generation of Miracles."

"It's really not like you to joke around like that." Kise admitted.

"Ha!" Kagami laughed. _This is the Generation of Miracles. They really are amazing! And there are four more guys stronger than him. I can't help but grin._

"What are you doing, stealing my lines Kuroko?" Kagami laughed.

"I still have no sense of humor. I'm serious."

* * *

**Ahehe... 3rd chapter. R/R? Please?**

***Subete means all and sugoi means awesome. Izuki's puns... (sweatdrops)**

****BTW, black box is an idiom in Japanese... in which people cannot predict or understand what a person is thinking. Kinda unpredictable just like her brother.**


	4. He Might Not Be A Decent One

**I'm sorry... I know I know! Slow updates are annoying. Really annoying. But between driving lessons and a grandfather who likes playing FarmVille too much... it was difficult. I know this chapter is rather short... but I'm going by manga chapter standards unless there are flashback arcs. Now on how that's going to go I have no idea especially when I get to the Teiko Arc...**

* * *

**Chapter 4 - He Might Not Be A Decent One**

All the Seirin members were awestruck at the high-tech buildings and facilities in the big campus of Kaijou. Although Seirin had very decent facilities as well (they were a new school after all), the bigger school with a much longer history really amazed them.

"Whoa, so big... the emphasis they put in the sports clubs here is on a different level after all." Hyuuga commented as they strolled in Kaijou High School.

However, one dazed individual was not paying attention to his surroundings. His eyes were zagged with redness and panda eyes were prominent beneath his eyes.

"Are you alright Kagami-kun?" Hazuki asked.

"Kagami-kun... your eyes seem worse than usual," Kuroko commented.

"**Shut up**, I was too fired up, so I couldn't sleep." Kagami retorted.

"Hrm, then are you planning to challenge Kise-kun in that state?" Hazuki popped open a sports drink and handed it to Kagami. "Here you go. That'll probably make you more awake."

"...Oh. Well, er, thanks."

"...You're such a kid Kagami-kun."

"**Shut up Kuroko!"**

"Hey!" Kise energetically waved. "This place is big, so I thought I'd come and get you guys!"

The blonde jogged over as rays of light (coincidentally or uncoincidentally?) showered onto his handsome complexion.

_Ikemen_, Hazuki thought, her otaku switch going on.

"Kurokocchi, ever since you turned me down, I've been crying myself into my pillow every night..." Kise sobbed .

_Ah, an Ikemen boke. That's new._

"Not a single girl has ever turned me down you know?" Kise sighed.

Riko lost her footing and sweatdropped. Most of the guys of the Seirin team began fuming.

_Ah... a dark aura,_ Hazuki sweatdropped.

"Would you please stop saying things like that?" Kuroko pronounced flatly.

"Well out of anything, I'm more interested in the people who's making Kurokocchi say such a thing." Kise eyed Kagami and Hazuki. "I'm not that obsessed with the name of the 'Generation of Miracles', but if you're willing to pick a fight that much, even I'm not willing to let that slide. Sorry but I'm going to have to take you down."

"That's what I want to hear," Kagami grinned.

* * *

Here we are," Kise pointed to the gym doors.

Hazuki suddenly felt a pair of eyes on her. She whipped her head around quickly and met the eyes of Kise, scrutinizing her and Kagami.

_He's changed his expression..._ Hazuki thought._ Is he calculating whether we're worthy or not?_

"**WE'RE PLAYING ON A HALF-COURT?!**

Hazuki jumped at the sudden outburst then realized what the coach was mad about. A net had been lowered in the gym to cut the court space in half. She spotted the 2nd string members practicing in the other half.

"That backboard looks terrible..." someone muttered pointing out the hoop that they were going to use.

"Ah, you're here," A large and porky looking man appeared. He had squinty eyes, dark hair and a stubble that accented his double chin. In other words, he looked like a pig and human hybrid stuck in a polo shirt and khakis.

"We'll be playing on one side of the court. I hope you don't mind." Takeuchi Genta, the coach of the Kaijou team explained.

"Er... nice to meet you too, sorry, what do you mean?" Riko asked with creeping irritation in her voice.

"Ah, it's just like you see. Today's match is just a light warm-up for our regulars... besides the club members that won't play won't see anything worth watching, so in order not to waste their time, the other members are going to practice as usual. Well, even though we say it's a warm-up, they're still our regulars. Please try to not get yourselves defeated triple the points."

The Seirin members were once again boiling a volcano of rage. Veins were popping everywhere on Riko's face and Hazuki quickly scampered over to hold her back.

Kuroko had a slightly miffed expression on his face and Kagami had completely exploded.

_**They're completely making fun of us**_**,** Kagami glowered. _**In other words, we're just 'an opponent for them to train in their spare time...'**_

"Hmm? Why are you putting your uniform on Kise? Kise you won't play!"

"Eh?"

"Even in our school, we've gathered aces from all middle schools. You're on a completely different level! and it's already unfair as it is with just the other regulars playing. If you play too, it won't even be a match!"

"Wah, coach, stop saying things like that seriously!"

"It's already unfair as it is with just the other regulars playing. If you play too, it won't even be a match!" Then the coach left as if the matter was settled.

"Sorry, I'm seriously sorry!" Kise apologized to the Seirin team. "It's alright, I'll be sitting on the bench..."

Kise snuck a look to Seirin, "If you just knock this guy off his pedestal, I'll probably play. Sorry if that sounds selfish, but..."

His gaze turned sly and arrogant once more.

"...If you can't even make me play in this match... you'll have no right saying you want to take down the "Generation of Miracles."

Hazuki tiptoed so her hands could reach Kise's face. She pulled his cheeks.

"Er? Whart aw your doin'?"

"Eh?" The Seirin team chorused.

"What are you doing Fujidana-san?!" Furihata asked.

"Well, I just felt like doing it because of what he said." Hazuki pulled harder on Kise's face.

"Guargh!" He protested.

"Besides, in the matter of winning or losing, I think there's a more important thing in this that will determine victory or not isn't there?"

_Huh..?_ Hyuuga thought.

Hazuki finally let go of Kise's cheeks. "Ow.. that really hurt! Was that really necessary?"

"Hey Seirin!" Genta shouted. "I'll show you the way to the locker rooms!" The Seirin members turned to the locker rooms, their fighting spirit risen up.

"Please stay up, you will not have to wait for long," Kuroko turned around to add.

"Err... excuse me," Riko apologized to Genta. "I think it'll be a little impossible for a warm-up..."

"**Because I don't think you will be able to afford holding back,**" Riko, Kagami, and the rest of Seirin chorused as they entered the hallway to their locker room.

"What?!" Genta asked.

Kise couldn't help smirking.

"Well Kise-kun, let's have fu~n." Hazuki couldn't help adding as she stuck her head back out from the hallway.

(Back in the prefecture of Tokyo, in a hospital, a certain goofy, giant sized and bushy eyebrowed sibling sneezed.)

"I wonder who's talking about me right now... **achoo**!" His Hanafuda cards sploshing all over his elderly roommate.

* * *

"The practice game between Kaijou High and Seirin High will now begin!"The referee frowned then glanced at both teams in puzzlement.

"Err, well, we're starting... Seirin, would you mind getting your fifth player on the court quickly?"

"Erm, there are five people here," Kuroko raised his hand.

"**OOEH!?"** The members of Kaijou spurted.

"What the hell, I didn't see him..." A member of the 2nd string muttered.

"He's got no presence..."  
**"He's one of the starters!?**"

"...? Why are they so surprised?" Hazuki thought out loud. "I mean Kuroko-kun was standing there from the start wasn't he?"

Riko just stared and sweatdropped at her, incredulous. _Wha... well, should I say as expected from our team's only girl player...? Or rather, as expected of Teppei's sister..._

_Uwagh, he was right in front of me, and I didn't even notice him_... Kasamatsu thought.

_What a gloomy guy... _Kobori thought. _Well, I guess the only one we should really watch out for is No. 10..._

_Wait,_ Moriyama thought. _Can that guy even play basketball?!_

"Ridiculous," Genta snorted. "With all that big talk, I thought they were going to send out more decent players."

"... I wonder about that, Kise said. "Though, well... he might not be a decent one."

He then spotted that girl from the Seirin team that proclaimed herself as an official player. _Well, that certainly was... new. I can't tell if she was being sarcastic or delusional. _(And that was coming from a guy who went to the school with 5 other eccentric prodigies.)

_And she was scared of me, I wonder why!? Such a shame, she's quite pretty..._

(And of course, Kise ponders over her being worth dating material or not before whether she was telling the truth or not.)

* * *

**At the Seirin bench...**

"Ouch," Riko muttered, as she scrutinized Kaijou's statistics.

"What's wrong coach?" Hazuki asked.

"Their numbers are way above average...well, it's expected of a team of the national level... we're going to have a tough time."

The freshmen trio began to assume their roles of panic.

Hazuki put a finger to her chin and tapped it with an unreadable expression.

"Ah well..." Hazuki hmmed thoughtfully. "It's not like we don't have our own monsters. Besides, aren't we going to have fu~n?"

"Eh?" Koganei said.

The benched 2nd years all blinked. Why were they getting a sense of deja vu...?

"Well, I suppose so," Riko snorted, calming down slightly.

**"TIPOFF!"**

Kobori snatched the ball into Kaijou's possession. He immediately passed to their captain, Kasamatsu.

"Alright! Lets start by scoring once!" He began dribbling down from the half-court line carefully and observed the positions of both teams. But even the national ranking captain couldn't notice the invisible 6th man streaking towards him.

**"WHAP!"** The ball flew out of Kasamatsu's hands.

"**WHAT THE****―****"** Kasamatsu's eyes widened. Kuroko began to dribble as fast as he could down the court.

This guy is slow... I can get it back! Kasamatsu thought with a regained smirk on his face.

But all of a sudden Kuroko passed the ball backwards, stunning Kasamatsu at the sudden pass. Kagami easily caught it, sprinted past everyone and dunked into the basket.

The result was a broken hoop in Kagami's hands.

"**WHAT!"**

"**He destroyed the hoop!"**

"**That's not normal!"**

Every Kaijou spectator dropped their jaws in shock. All the members of the team were in shock. But best yet, Coach Genta had dropped his pork chops at the result of his underestimation.

_Well, to be fair, that basket was rusty to begin with... _Hazuki thought with amusement. _But it had quite the psychological effect._ She stared at the commotion, unblinkingly, and pondered on what would happen.

"Um...did you know that would happen?" The coach couldn't help asking.

"Well, to be fair, it was unexpected yet expected at the same time."

"...?"

"But we also know what's going to happen now, don't we?"

Kagami took a closer look at the basketball rim, "Heh, this thing is bigger than I thought. What should we do Kuroko?"

"Well, we need to apologize first..." He and Kagami walked to the other team's bench and bowed.

"Sorry, it seems like we broke the goal**―**

―**would you mind if we use the other half of the court?"**

* * *

**Yep, it was rather short. I'm getting to the 5th chapter! I promise! (x_x)  
R/R? Please? Please? Onegai?**

**Oh by the way, I will have omakes popping often between the main storyline. They will generally be standalone chapters, but occasionally there will be mini arcs and lots of stories based on the light stories of KnB. There will also be a big arc that has to do with Hazuki-chan's past. Look forward to it please!**

**If you have any ideas as well, don't hesitate to PM me!**


	5. Omake: It Started With Stomach Cramps

**Here's an awesome Omake... I hope that makes up for my lack of updates! Editing is harder than I thought...sorry!**

* * *

**Omake: It All Started with Stomach Cramps**

**Even Hazuki wasn't exactly sure how it came to this. **

She was an intelligent person. Living with the biggest goofball and plotter in the world tends do that to you. You learn to be open to all of the possibilities in the world and anything impossible as well that is miles away from the average human thinking. You grow up to be a couple steps further from the flow of thinking which makes you... somewhat... er, visibly random, but smart.

But what happened today was beyond testing her limits. And to think it started with stomach cramps.

* * *

**Class 1-B**

**3:20 PM**

_Ugh... _Hazuki glanced at the clock, groggily watching the hand of the clock tick slowly. Her head

had been feeling dizzy and heavy all afternoon, and her stomach also was beginning to pulse with pain. What was going on? She felt her head. No fever as far as she could tell... could it be...?

_Don't tell me..._

_...Am I hungry?_

She shuffled as quietly as she could over the teacher's droning and slipped out a thin plastic package from the desk, used only for emergencies. But unfortunately, the choice of foods in their were based on a mix of her brother's preferences (insistent suggestions to be exact) and not just her own, so it was a matter of luck.

Well. This was an interesting combination.

* * *

(5 smuggled dried squids and a mint later...)

_...Apparently not._

Hazuki twitched at the pain in her stomach. She carefully positioned her textbook so it covered a big part of her desk and face. Then she held a pencil and lied her head down so it looked like she was taking notes.

_"Whewawheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..._" A ghost like whistle pierced around the room.

"_Waugh_!"

The class were shocked out of their sleepy state immediately. Even Kuroko flinched slightly out of his trance.

_What the hell was that!_ Kagami thought with irritation.

"Wha**―**what was that?" Their steadily balding math teacher shouted. He adjusted his glasses and glared for the source that disrupted his beautiful lesson.  
_Uh oh... need to get up__**―**_

"Hrmph, well no matter what that was, it seems to have** woken every individual that dared to sleep in my class...** it looks like I have to give you homework times threefold today!"

_Oh dear, looks like Kagami will have start his homework early in Maji Burger... body feels heavy..._

The class of course began groaning and complaining.

"What!?"  
"That's not fair!"

"Well, then who told you to sleep in this class!? Hrm..? FUJIDANA!"

"...Erm? Ack!" She slipped from her desk and caught the side of it just in time to save herself from a nasty fall.

"**HOW DARE YOU SLEEP IN MY CLASS!"**

"...Er...actually**―**"

"GET UP THIS INSTANT AND DO THIS PROBLEM ON THE BOARD! THEN MAYBE I'LL RECONSIDER TRIPLING THE HOMEWORK!" With a few sharp and powdery strokes, he wrote a math problem... that would appear in their 2nd year.

"..." Hazuki stared upside down at the blackboard.

"Well, I guess that's that... I see everyone is getting** quadrupled** the homework amount**―**"

"NO!" Several students chorused.

"K=4"

Silence echoed in the room.

"...Am I wrong?"

"SPUH! How did you get that!?"

"Er, well I added the exponents and**―**"

"Get up to the board and do the work!"

"..."

Hazuki struggled to get up quickly enough for the teacher but slowly enough for the anemia rushing through her head from staying upside down for too long.

"Ugh," She muttered holding her head then spotted Kuroko looking at her with unusual concern. She waved as nonchalantly as she could before she lugged on.

3:27 PM... if she didn't hurry, the fate of her classmates were doomed. She scuffled as best as she could to the front of the classroom and raised her hand to write**―**

"**SCREEEEEEEEEEEECHHHHHHHHH!"**

"**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**" screamed the class.

"**WHAT KIND OF IDIOT WRITES WITH A MECHANICAL PENCIL ON THE BLACKBOARD!"**

"...I'm sorry," She said distractedly. 3:29, she really had to hurry now.

With all her strength she picked up the chalk and began scribbling. 48 seconds...

Cha cha cha! A huge graph erupted over the board and discrete calculations consisting of long algebra sentences stringed over the board.

_Now you cancel those variables... ouch!_ She almost stopped to clench her stomach. _Hurry... 23 seconds..._

Bam bam bam!  
Hazuki circled the final answer then looked at the teacher. All the students clenched their hands worriedly. Their fate was in her hands.

"Well, well." He shook his head in amazement. "I must admit I wasn't expecting an answer at all. Very good. Very very good. I suppose I'll take back the tripled homework."

**"WHOOOOOOOOOO!"** Her classmates exploded in a flurry.

"I suppose just double the homework will suffice**―**"

**BRIIIINNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!**

**BAM BAM!**

_EEP!_ Hazuki yelled in her head at the most terrifying burst of people who were desperate for freedomouth the most horrific survival mode faces she had ever seen.

"BYE!"

"SEE YOU TOMORROW!"

"BYE SENSEI!"

"Thanks Fuji-chan, I'll treat you to something sometime!" The girl with the sharp delinquent looks shouted as the flow of the crowd pushed her back.

"See you!" The peppy and pretty girl from last time saluted. "Thank you for saving us!"

"**AHHH! NOOOO! GET BACK HERE!"**

Hazuki shivered, relieved that the unexpected stampede was over. She dragged over to her desk and sank into the desk.

"That was pretty amazing," Kagami said, unusually impressed, (who stayed behind as soon as he saw the teacher chasing the crowd.)

"Fanks," She mumbled. "I exhausted my resources."

"Are you alright Fujidana-san?" Kuroko asked.

She raised a hand limply then dropped it on the desk, "If you guys leave now, he might not catch you. Go ahead, I'll be in the gym in a few minutes."

"Alright," Kagami gathered his things and being the bakagami he was, he didn't bother to ask about Hazuki's condition. "See you in a few minutes."

Kuroko patiently waited by Hazuki's desk. She turned her head to face him.

"It's fine, Kuroko-kun. I'll be there soon,"

He gave her a slightly doubtful look. She waved. Wordlessly, Kuroko gathered up her things and put them in her bag. Then to her slight surprise, he patted her gently on the head.

"If you really feel sick, I'll tell coach that you can't come to practice."

Hazuki immediately sat upright. Not possible. She couldn't afford to miss a single day of practice, especially after seeing the performance of one of the Generation of Miracles. If the Generation of Miracles were evolving as quickly as Kuroko said, she could only imagine what the Crownless Generals' growth would be as a more experienced generation.

"Healed," She saluted, then got up and scuttled off to the door and paused. A few seconds later she scrambled back and took the bag with her head bowed to hastily cover her blushing face.

"Thank you very much." She bowed lower.

When she finally got back the door, she beckoned with her head and shuffled back in the corridor like nothing happened.

Kuroko stared for a moment then a small smile slipped onto his face.

* * *

**Seirin Gym:**

"And today we will be doing marathon training!" Riko announced. "We'll be running around the school, behind the baseball court, in the courtyard, then back around the school again**―**"

Seirin all groaned.

"Let's double it then, since I see how you all just love training!"

"LET'S..._let_'s **GO SEIRIN!**" Hyuuga shakily shouted.

"Yeah, training!" Koganei sobbed.

_Dou__**―**__Doubling? Can I make it through this day alive?_

Hazuki made a fistpump. _Probably._

* * *

**Not.**

Hazuki groggily crouched at the curb with her head spinning, clutching her sides. The pain is getting worse, she thought. And to think that I was in the lead in the beginning...

She glanced at the clock on the other side of the road. _Hopefully it will be awhile before anyone comes,_ she shuddered slightly. Triple the training would be the definite end of her sense of well-being.

She began to zone herself so she couldn't feel the slight spring chill that was blowing by her. I feel nothing... _I feel nothing... I feel nothing... I feel nothing... I'm an unfeeling stone that doesn't feel any..._

_Ow, _she thought as she saw a tiny purple bud out of the wisteria vines across the street. It looked lonely, wrapped in a wilderness with no companion around a arbor. Fujidana.

How ironic. Wistera means a heart to endure loss.

_What would have been like to have been born with my real given name instead of something that was just made up?_

_Kiyoshi Hazuki? _What should have felt natural to her felt foreign, like someone from another person's life.

"...I should run some more."

As soon as she stood up, she staggered drunkily then saw red. Dark crimson splatters stained the pavement, like some apparition from a nightmare. Blood...

_Blood. So. I'm having my period, _she clenched her stomach as she sank back down. All she could do was hope that no one would pass her by and she could just disappear without anyone finding out.

Preferably for a long time so she could disappear without anyone finding her. Digging a long dark hole sounded quite nice as well. Peaceful. Hazuki felt like she could just go to sleep, and no one would find out, and it would be perfectly fine, but for now, her head buried in her knees would suffice.

"Whewwheeeeeeeee," She whistled.

"Fujidana-san?"

Hazuki lifted her head and blinked at the familiar blue haired and blue eyed phantom player of their team.

"Are you alright?"

Another blink.

"Can you stand up?"

"...Er...wait, what?" She tried to feign ignorance. Please, I don't mean anything, but please, go away.

Go away. Please. Anyone would be disgusted of this. Go away.

"Can you stand up?"

"...Ye-yes. Yes." Please don't come near me. No. Don't come...

Hazuki stood up slowly, hoping Kuroko wasn't doing his usual people-watching.

Go away. I don't want anyone to see.

Kuroko's eyes widened when he saw the blood staining the pavement.

"Are you hurt?"

"...Er...that's..."

"I'll get coach."

"!"

People whispering. Pointing in hushed voices. The side glances. Their stares.

"That's...wait. Wait!" She tugged on his sleeve. "Kuroko-kun, that..."

"I'm not hurt," She said quietly. "It's just... my period."

Kuroko blinked.

Hazuki curled back into a ball then stared at Kuroko, her eyes monotone.

_Could I just disappear now? Before anyone else knows._

People whispering. Pointing in hushed voices. The side glances. Their stares. And now they're all edging onto her, laughing and screaming in mirth.

Hazuki turned pale, her mind in chaos. Would the basketball team look at her like that? When any people found out, wouldn't they laugh at her? She didn't hate people. She hated the feeling of people surrounding, turning towards her, and leaving her no space to run. Just like four years ago.

Kuroko wordlessly knelt and put his sports jacket over her shoulders.

"Don't worry," He said softly.

Then he put his hand behind her back and underneath her legs and...

Was this the infamous... princess carry!? (*Otaku switch on*)

_Except..._

"Um, Kuroko-kun?"

"Yes?"

"I'm... too heavy for you aren't I?"

"No you're not."

"Kuroko-kun, your arms are shaking."

"..."

"Pft!"

"...What is it?"

"Thank you."

Kuroko nodded silently.

Surprisingly, Kuroko did not drop her at all. She knew very clearly that he (pardon her rudeness), was not strong at all, and definitely the weakest guy in terms of strength of the team. Or maybe he was too gentlemanly to even drop her, even if his arms were going to break. _This... certainly was different._

"We're almost at the end! **GO SEIRIN!**" Hyuuga shouted.

_Uh. Oh._

**"YEAH!"** The rest of them shouted.

"These exercises are just brutal," Koganei huffed. "Aren't they Mitobe?"

Mitobe nodded wordlessly then blinked.

"Eh, what's wrong, Mitobe?"

He began running faster towards the school gate.

"Eh, Mitobe!?"

So much for not being found out.

"Eh, hi, Mitobe-senpai..."

He tilted his head in puzzlement and concern.

"Er, well this is..."

"**EH!?"** The team shouted.

One invisible boy. One cute junior. And one towering and anxious senpai.

**A bridal style carry.**

"What's going on here?" Tsuchida asked.

"Um...that's..."

"Kuroko, what's going on?"

"..."

"Er, I'd like to know why Kuroko's carrying Fujidana...in princess style?" Koganei raised his hand. "Hold on, or is it bridal style?"

"That's... that's..."

"Chigau! It's the hakobu sutairu..."*

"**NOBODY CARES IZUKI!"**

"What are you doing Kuroko? I didn't know you were the type to..."

Kagami never got to finish.

"**What are all. Of. You. Doing?"** A sweet voice asked.

**BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!**

"**ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"** They all covered their ears in pain.

"I see a tripling session is necessary for this team who won't finish their schedules properly, huh!? HUH!?" Riko shouted.

**"NOOOO!"**

"Um, Coach, it's not their fault..." Hazuki raised her hand, feeling a sense of deja vu again.

"Eh? Fujidana-san?! What's going on?"

"Er...that's..."

Everyone's eyes trailed back to her. _  
_

"That's..."

"Oh, what's going here?" Takeda-sensei hobbled along with his cane.

"Takeda-sensei!" Riko and the students heads turned to their club's advisor.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Oh nothing sensei, we were just talking about how Fujidana-san and Kuroko-kun were―"

An empty space stood exactly where the pair had been.

"They disappeared!"

"Ah! KUROKO!"

"They escaped using Kuroko's misdirection!"

"Where, where?!"

"There! There!"

"It appears that my misdirection didn't quite make up for my lack of speed."

"That's, that's not true Kuroko-kun. I think they're just..."

"Just?"

"―Too curious? Um. They're..."

**"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!"**

"**Get them―" **

"Stop!" Riko shouted. "You guys,** STOP!**"

"**ARGH!"** They launched themselves like rabid squirrels. **"You're NOT GETTING AWAY!"**

* * *

**10 minutes later, in the infirmary:**

"**IDIOTS! ARE ALL OF YOU REALLY THAT IDIOTIC!?"**

Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham!

"OW~" Hyuuga, Izuki, Koganei and Tsuchida collapsed on the floor from the brunt of her knuckle punch, clutching their heads.

"Um, Coach, it's okay, you don't need to―" Hazuki waved frantically to distract Riko from her victims, (well as much as she could confined to the infirmary bed).

"Need to?! Those idiots injured a girl on her period!"

"Er, Coach, I think Kuroko-kun was more injured out of anything―" She said, her face reddening slightly.

"I'm fine Fujidana-san."

"You... were tackled by four guys―"

"I survived."

"Kuroko-kun..."

"You idiots, go and sit in seiza!" Riko began resuming her dark aura and slapping her fist threatening into her palm. "And repent for the damage you've caused!"

"Yes..."

**"NOT LOUD ENOUGH!" WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!**

The freshmen shuddered in the devil's aura of their coach.  
"Remind me never, ever, to annoy our coach―" Fukuda shivered. "Otherwise, the training we've all endured would look like nothing next to it!"

Kagami shuddered as he looked at the bumps that the upperclassmen got.

"Anyways, are you alright Fujidana?" Kawahara asked.

"Ah, yes..." She nodded.

"Fujidana-san!" Riko shouted.

"Er, yes?"

Riko immediately gained onto her.

"From now on, we are starting a personal calendar for you."

Uh oh. Oh no. This wasn't good if her intuitions were correct.

"Yes. For your period."

A long silence stretched around the room for so long that Hazuki could feel the mental crickets chirping. The freshmen trio flinched and turned red, looking at the ceiling (basically anywhere but her). Tsuchida was doing the exact same. Mitobe looked at Hazuki sympathetically and patted her shoulder. Kagami was still distracted at the result of the coach's wrath, and was wincing at the remnants of the sempais.

"That's... that's―" She mumbled while shrinking down as far she could into the covers. Even before she could actually give a real response, she just decided to be resigned to her situation.

* * *

Yes. Being the sister of Kiyoshi Teppei has its merits of generally being unsurprised to change of events, but coming to Seirin might have been the biggest change of perspectives she had ever had. And to think it started with stomach cramps.

_Well... I guess I should get used to it._

* * *

**Does that work? I hope so... Please R/R...**

***What Izuki said was, 'No! It's the carrying style...', but as usual he doesn't get to finish his words of course.**


	6. 2800 Yen Is Not Just For Show

**A chapter this soon~ Hehe. I hope that works! \(w)/ Please R/R and don't hesitate to PM me~**

* * *

**Chapter 5 - It's Not Just For Show**

"What!? They're using the whole court?"  
"There's a guy that destroyed a backboard!"

"**HAH? WHOA. SERIOUSLY!?"**

The Seirin team began moving to their new benches with glee. Riko especially was smirking like a cat at the change of events.

"You sure surprised the coach! It's the first time I've seen make him that kind of face!" Kise laughed.

"It's because he kept looking down on us. **TAKE THAT!**" Kagami glared.

"Kagami-kun... how much does a backboard cost?" Kuroko asked.

"**Eh?! We've got to pay for it!?" **Kagami yelled.

"Hrm, well NBA ones cost about 100,000 yen..." Hazuki pondered.

"**EH?"**

"But I think gym ones will be about 30..."

"30 yen!?"

"Sorry, that's the American price... in Yen it's... 2800 or so?"

"**! #$%^&*(#$#%! AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT ANYWAYS!?"**

"...Kagami-kun, you're being too loud."

"Oh, my brother accidently broke the backboard of our house's hoop once."

_He was so happy about getting one that he hugged it and it broke the roof when it fell. And then grandmother.. er, took care of the rest,,_ Hazuki pondered, remembering the consecutive explosions she heard from her room.

"..."

Kaijou's coach began spluttering in a fit of rage. **"KISE! COME HERE A SECOND!"**

"Hehe," Koganei grinned, nudging Mitobe. Mitobe nodded, completely understanding. Now Seirin would finally get proper respect.

* * *

"We'll resume the match!" The referee yelled.

Kise Ryouta finally walked onto the court.

"Sorry to keep you waiting..." Kise smirked as he glanced at Kuroko and Kagami.

"He's finally here..." Kagami grinned.

"Such pressure," Hyuuga muttered. "Now that he's serious, you wouldn't actually think that guy is a model."

"And this isn't just for show. He has the same skills inside," Kuroko said.

"Seeing him again.." the coach muttered_**. He's a monster... Kise Ryouta! **_

_The Generation of Miracles huh.._. Hazuki thought. _If they're such of a high level and barely a notch above the Crownless Generals, I'm going to be in trouble..._

"**KYAA! KISE-KUN!"** Hordes of fangirls screamed. Hazuki whipped around and**―**

_Agh... That's really scary! _

Waves upon waves of rabid and hungry females were threatening to tip over the railing. And that was not helping Hazuki with her nerves at all.

"Whoa? What the hell?" Hyuuga yelled.

Kise continued to send the girls winks and playful smiles.  
**"KYA! Kise-kun just winked!**"

Kasamatsu just sighed. "That? That happens every time he plays. In any case**―**"

"―How long are you gonna keep waving at them!" Kasamatsu kicked.

"OUCH! Sorryyyy!"

"**I'LL HIT YOU!"**

"You already did..."

"Do you even understand the situation Kise!?" Kasamatsu began assaulting his shoulder.

("Ouch, ouch..")

"Since they've introduced themselves in such a great way... it's rude if we don't return the favor!"

Kise closed his eyes and just smirked.

* * *

Kasamatsu began dribbling across the court passed by Hyuuga. Kagami immediately lunged to block his drive. Moriyama darted out of nowhere and screened Kagami.

"Agh!"

...And now the ball was in Kaijous' ace's hands…

"―And here comes our greetings too," Kise lunged at the hoop and dunked the hoop the exact violent way Kagami had.

"OOH!" The audience stared, stunned.

"KYAA!"

"AS EXPECTED OF KISE-KUN!"

"**MORON, YOU SHOULD HAVE BROKEN IT LIKE THEM! DO IT AGAIN!"** Kasamatsu kicked down Kise.

"Ouch, Sorry!"

_No.._. Kagami stared at the shuddering hoop. _That power was greater than mine._

"Well," Kise rubbed his head. "I can't really do that with the girls, but... in basketball, I never forget to return a favor."

Hazuki almost fell over. From Boke to Ikemen so fast... too fahst. Fahst!

Kagami naturally began sprouting veins all over his face, **"KUROKO, THE BALL!**"

Kuroko immediately began his phantom pass routes. The ball zipped invisibly between the players, and shocked the Kaijou team again and again.  
"Nwoh!" Kise gasped as the ball dodged out of his hands.

_Where is that guy appearing from, since earlier!?_ Kasamatsu stared as the phantom player ran behind him out of nowhere.

"Ooh!" Kagami dunked the ball.

"**Let's go at full power too!**" Kasamatsu yelled.

"Yeah!" The Kaijou team yelled.

* * *

_What... wait. What is going on...?! _Riko stared.

_I want to play,_ Hazuki thought mournfully.

_The match only started three minutes ago... but the teams are just exchanging blows without guarding! Of course, the defense is going at full power, but... both of the offenses are just way too strong!_

_**This is.. what happens when two players of the Generation of Miracles clash!**_

"Hrm, coach, I think you might want to request a time out."  
"Eh?" Riko snapped out of her thinking state.

"Look," Hazuki pointed at Hyuuga who was drenched in sweat and barely holding onto the ball. "That amount of sweat isn't natural. And with all that pressure... we're going to crumble if they don't change the pace."

Hazuki got up and headed immediately to the referee table like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Er.. eh? Er, you do that. Er..." Riko was startled at the quick analyzation made by their female player.

* * *

"Woh!" Hyuuga dodged Moriyama's swipes towards the ball_. The pressure from the other four players are insane! I don't like to admit it, but without Kuroko and Kagami, we'd get crushed. How long is this going to stay balanced!? _

Kagami received the ball and immediately leaped to a fadeaway. But it was too late,. Kise jumped and smacked the ball away from Kagami's line of shooting.

"**Wha..!?"**

Kise ran to the other end of the court and immediately leaped into a fadeaway, the exact same as Kagami's. No. It was...

A fadeaway?! No, his cut is so much stronger...!

"Captain, I would like to request a timeout," Kuroko said calmly to Hyuuga.

"OWAH! Wait, why are you asking me!?"

"The high pace we are playing right now isn't good for our bodies."

"Eh? Wait, what's with that weak-hearted statement!?"

"If we don't get Kagami-kun to cool down his head once, he'll get angrier and angrier and challenge him at that pace. At this rate, Kise-kun will answer with even more strength and we'll only keep chasing them while the situation gets worse."

_He's more talkative than usually... could the situation be even worse than I thought..?_

"Yeah... it seems so." Hyuuga glanced at the referee table.

"Timeout for Seirin, please," Hazuki asked.

"Eh? Fujidana?" Hyuuga startled. She sent them a unreadable pondering expression then walked back to their bench.

* * *

**"TIMEOUT ASKED BY SEIRIN!"  
**

_They're way too tired, you wouldn't think they've played for only 5 minutes... it's not impossible for this result to happen though... the pace they played wasn't normal at all!_

Hazuki and the rest of the freshmen hurriedly passed out towels and drinks.

"**WHAT'S WITH THAT MESS YOU IDIOTS!"** Genta roared. **"HOW MANY POINTS ARE YOU GOING TO LET THEM SCORE!? ARE YOU SLEEPING IN DEFENSE!?"**

Hazuki tiptoed and peered at the Kaijou team. _I wonder if Coach will let me play... if I do, I'll be against their captain then. His eyebrows looks like Teppei's._

Kasamatsu glanced at the Seirin team, his eyes on Kagami and Kuroko.

"That freshmen duo is seriously troublesome. You're handing the opponent's number 10 well enough, but what do we do with that invisible guy..?"

"Right, huh? See~ Kurokocchi is actually.."

"What are you acting all happy for, idiot!?"

"Ouch! Well.. it'll be alright, probably. The balance will be destroyed really soon**―** because..."

* * *

**Back at the Seirin bench...**

"First the problem is Kise-kun."

"To think even Kagami can't handle him..."

"Should we get one more player on him?"

"**Wha**... wait a **damn** second**―please!**"

(A damn second... please!?)

"...No, there is a way out of this."

**"This guy has a weakness."**

* * *

**Hope this lives up you your expectations... (^w^) R/R pleaseeeee? **


	7. It's Perfect If I Can't Be Castrated

**Update! This was a somewhat short chapter, so I'll get started on the next right away~! I am in somewhat angst though, at the Teiko Arc... (x_x) This is the first time that I wanted an arc to hurry up and finish since it's so painful to read... *sob*  
**

**Does anyone have the theory that the 5th player of Rakuzan is Ogiwara? Yes, yes, it's a manga/anime stereotype, but to be honest, if he's not going to appear as him, then when is he going to appear again? He was significant enough to influence Kuroko to quit Teiko's basketball team so I doubt this is the last we'll here from him...?  
**

**R/R? Please?**

* * *

******Chapter 6 - It's Perfect If I Can't Win**

**"Weakness!?"** They all chorused.

"Well," Kuroko said. "It's honestly not something you can call a weak point, but..."

"If that's the case," Hyuuga interrupted. "Why didn't you say so earlier?

"More importantly, there is one more problem. Because of the higher paced play, my effective is already fading."

"!?"

* * *

**At the Kaijou Bench:**

"That's guy's misdirection isn't something he can use for the whole 40 minutes."

"Misdi... what!?"

"Misdirection. Kurokocchi's lack of presence isn't magic. To put it rough, he's just turning attention away from himself. Here... please look at me―" Kise threw the ball in the air and Kasamatsu's attention turned to the ball.

"See? You weren't looking anymore."

"Ah!"

"Kurokocchi uses things like this together with his observing skills, and makes himself disappear like an illusion, acting only as a relay for passes. Well―even if he didn't do that, he's already hard to notice from the start...but the more he uses it, the more our eyes get used to it, so its effectiveness wears off..."

* * *

**Back at the Seirin Bench:**

"**WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US SOMETHING THAT IMPORTANT EARLIER!"** Riko roared, strangling Kuroko.

"I'm sorry, you didn't ask..."

"SO IF WE DON'T ASK, YOU WON'T SAY ANYTHING, YOU IDIOT!?"

"Coach, isn't that too much―" Hazuki tried to intervene.

"DEFINITELY NOT! ARGHHHHH..."

"**TIMEOUT IS OVER!"**

"It ended when I was strangling Kuroko-kun!"

"Let me keep guarding Kise... please!" Kagami interrupted.

"What's with that polite speech! Anyways! Switch the man-to-man to zone Strengthen the middle, and help if Kise-kun is coming. Getting in Kise's way comes first!"

"**ALRIGHT ! **

"And Kuroko-kun, slow down the pace, but don't let the gap widen too far...do you think you can do that?"

"I will try."

* * *

_Ah... I've made a fool of myself... we're only halfway through the first quarter... calling another timeout would be too stupid..._ Riko sobbed.

Hazuki patted Riko on the shoulder. "There, there, it'll be fine. They didn't make it to the Interhigh preliminaries for nothing."

"Hrn..."

"And they grew a lot since then, right? And besides we're going to have fu~n."

"...Please don't sound like your brother..." (But Riko snorted anyways.)

"He was the one who copied that from me though..."

"It sounds more healing coming from you at least."

"Hrm... hehe."

* * *

"Oh, they're strengthening the center!" A 2nd string member observed from the railings.

"It's just a box-and-one. I can't believe this," sighed Kasamatsu. He leaped and shot, scoring a beautiful three-pointer.

"Ooh, a sudden three-pointer!" A 2nd string member shouted.

"Nice Kasamatsu!"

"Nice, Kasamatsu-senpai!"

"Are you underestimating the Kaijou regulars? This is too pathetic."

"Damn," Hyuuga muttered. "This is seriously hard..."

"**DEFENSE! DEFENSE!"**

"Kh―" Kagami muttered, trying to drive past Kise. As soon as Kagami lunged for a dunk, Kise hit the ball out of his hands.

"**OUT OF BOUNDS! WHITE BALL!"**

"Isn't it about time you admit it?" Kise said. "As you are right now, it's ten years too early for you to be challenging the Generation of Miracles."

"What did you say...!?"

"With the point difference right now you won't be able to catch up. More than a team's formation or strategy, basketball is a sport about 'size'. You were the only one who could have faced us, but I've seen the extent of your strength already. I'll acknowledge your potential, but you're still no match for me. No matter what kind of technique you use, I'll pay it back twice as much immediately. You can struggle, but you can't beat me."

"Ku. Ku...ku...ku...haha...**HAHAHAHAHA**!" Kagami laughed hysterically.

"...!?" Everyone stared in shock at the seemingly insane Kagami.

"Sorry, sorry. I was really happy you know... it's been a long time since I met a guy who said something like that."  
**"!?"**

"Well, this was the usual in America though."

"You lived in America!? That's amazing!" Kise said, impressed.

"I just jumped to conclusions when I came back to play. I regret that now."

"After all, life is all about challenges! Without strong opponents, you can't live. So it's perfect that I can't win. And I'm not done! it starts from now! Besides I know your weakness now."

"Weakness?"  
"If you can't see it, you can't copy it..." Kagami lugged Kuroko over and grabbed him at the top of his head. "This guy is your weakness!"

"What are you doing?" Kuroko gave Kagami a mildly annoyed look.

* * *

**Back at the Seirin Bench:**

"What are those idiots talking about!?" Riko demanded from the bench.

"Hrm... it's the time gap generation you always see in anime and manga. Dialogue that fills up the screen or pages... which supposedly takes up several seconds but takes up the entire episode of chapter."

"What!?"

"The time gap, the time gap."

"Speak Japaneseeeeeee!"

"Well, couldn't they have attacked during the time they were talking?"

**"..."**

"What's wrong?"

"**I'm. Going. To. Castrate. Them."**

* * *

_Kuroko-kun, Kagami-kun. _

_I sincerely apologize for my actions. Please don't die._

* * *

_**Review? Pleaseeeeeeee?**  
_

_**Oh by the way, I just read Infinite-Skye's 'Scarlet'. The biggest point of it is that Akashi is one of the guys that you should fangirl over the most. I rolled around in glee at the latest chapter. It's that high of a level.**_

_**I also strongly recommend **_**cywscross****'s 'A Single Step - A Thousand Miles'. They are cute, yet angsty and tragic drabbles of KnB. Very very excellent writing.  
**

**Animefan106's 'Hold Me Close' is adorable as well. But the fact that Teiko's arc will come into play is tragic... :( **

**R/R Please?  
**


	8. I'm The One Who Came Up With The Attack

**Nom nom nom... Cookies and Cream Ice Cream is Yummy... **

**Please review for me, my lovely cookies. **

* * *

**Chapter 7 - I'm The One Who Came Up With The Counterattack**

Kuroko shoved Kagami's hand off his head, then rubbed his head, miffed.

"So?" Kise finally let out. "It's true that I can't copy Kurokocchi's style, but what does that change?"

**"END OF FIRST QUARTER! TAKE A TWO MINUTE BREAK!"** The referee yelled.

Kagami's smirk was still plastered on his face as the team turned back to their bench. "That changes everything. We'll bring you to tears in the 2nd Quarter."

* * *

_An 8 point difference,_ Hazuki thought. N_ot as bad as it could be, but a permanent opening is essential to overcome this._

**"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Kaijou's coach roared. "THEY'RE CLOSING THE GAP!"**

_That cannot be good for someone of that body size. High blood pressure._

Riko was fuming, "Maybe Kise can't copy Kuroko-kun, but what does that change!?"

"Well, if you let Kagami-kun and Kuroko-kun pass together, then it's more likely they'll be able to pass through Kise-kun right?"

"..."

"Eh, am I wrong?"

Then everyone's heads turned to her in unison. Riko launched herself.

"WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF IT EARLIER!" Riko shook Hazuki. "**YOU'RE A GENIUS!**"

"That makes total sense!"

"Ah, well...eh-eh-eh-eh-eh~ Coach, you're shaking me too m-u-ch..."

"Yeah, that should work!"

"And Kagami's finally cooled down."

"No, I was always―"

"You were really pissed!" Hyuuga and Izuki interrupted in unison.

"So Kagami-kun and Kuroko-kun. Do you think you can do it?"

"Er― yeah, probably... **OW**!"  
Kuroko had jabbed Kagami in the ribs.

"You bastard, where did that come from!?"

"You want to beat Kise-kun right?"

Kagami hmphed and glared away from Kuroko. Then without a warning, he stabbed Kuroko in the ribs.

******"Of course I do!" **

"Kagami-kun, calm down," Hazuki lifted his arm and stabbed him in the armpit.

"**AGH!** What was that for!"

"Well..." It probably wouldn't be a good idea if she said she did it because she felt left out.

"Enough messing around!" Riko chopped Hazuki on the head and Kagami on the waist.

* * *

**"LET THE SECOND QUARTER BEGIN!"**

"Well... take care of the counterattack!"

"Do it, do it, do it, do it, Kaijou!"

"Go! Get them!" The freshmen trio shouted.

Kaijou's defense is still man-to-man, Hazuki thought. As expected of a team that's recognized nationally... and that's not including Kise-kun.

Hyuuga passed to Izuki, who passed immediately to Kagami.

"Something's changed right?" Kise asked. Kagami wordlessly dribbled passed Kise towards the hoop. _Just another drive? Maybe another fadeaway?_

Kagami swung the ball behind him, beyond Kise... to...

_He's coordinating with Kurokocchi!_ Kise thought in a panic.

Kuroko changed the ball's direction with a flick of a wrist back to Kagami. He bounded towards the hoop and did a layup.

"Yes!" Riko fistpumped.

Kagami passed again to Kuroko, which didn't catch Kise by surprise this time. Again?! It won't work this time!

Kuroko then passed it to Hyuuga, who made a beautiful three-pointer.

"All right! A three pointer!"  
"A five point gap!

"Hmph!" Hyuuga smirked as he adjusted his glasses up his nose. "So have you changed your opinion of me, first ye―"

"Nice!" Izuki said to Kuroko and Kagami.

"Alright, defense!"

"Oi!" Hyuuga protested.

_No wonder Teppei is best friends with Captain._ "Nice shoot captain!" Hazuki shouted. _Poor guy, stuck with my persistent brother all the time._

"Thank youuuuuuu!" Hyuuga cried as he went back to defense, ego undeflated once more.

* * *

"No. 4 is rather good," Kobori said.  
"We should be more worried about Number 10 and Number 11! The both of them have started relaying their passes to each other."

"Kagami has started passing the ball instead of just receiving it. Does... that really change much?"

"It changes a WHOLE LOT, **IDIOT**!"

"Kuroko's passing and Kagami's one-on-one were two separate offensive patterns. They only had two options! Now that they pass to each other, they're making their offense stronger!"

And Kise can't copy Kuroko, Riko grinned. _Kuroko is truly his worst opponent! Kagami-kun and Kuroko-kun. With these two, we can...!_

Kagami passed backwards with no one to receive it.

**"AGH!"**

_Well, we'll probably just barely make it,_ Riko sweatdropped.

* * *

Kise glared at Kuroko. "Kurokocchi..."

"Kise-kun is strong. Neither I, or Kagami-kun are a match for you. But when we work together... the two of us have a fighting chance.

_Ah, it's the time-gap monologue again,_ Hazuki thought.

"You really have changed, Kurokocchi. We never played basketball like this in Teikou... but you still can't stop me! The one who'll win is me! It's true that I can't copy your style, but since you'll lose your effectiveness after 40 minutes, you'll lose this game in the second half!"

Kise lunged for the ball and began to dribble down the court.

"Not so fast." Kagami grinned.

"What!?" Kise gaped.

"Kuroko is marking... Kise!?"

* * *

******Yes. I know. So short. So... short. (_) I'm getting the next one started right awayyyyyyyyy! I am! Really!**


	9. Hazuki Is Going

**I apologize. I really do! :( Late updates are bad, I know... I know... I'm guilty. But then again 2 AP classes are no joke. I apologize thoroughly! Please leave suggests or omake ideas, there will be lots of nice omakes and omake arcs. (Also a future Autumn Omake Arc since the Fall portion was omitted in the manga).**

* * *

**Chapter 8 - Hazuki Is Going**

"Kuroko is marking Kise!?"

"That guy marking Kise...eh who is he?" asked one of the 2nd string members of Kaijou.

"Isn't he the one with the incredible passes?"

"EH, really?!" I didn't see..."

"But wait..."

**"THERE'S NO WAY HE'S A MATCH FOR HIM!"**

"I never thought I would be facing you like this Kurokocchi." Kise said. "But you can't stop me!" He lunged right and blew past Kuroko.

Kagami just smirked as he ran forward to block Kise. "We're not stopping you. We're taking it!"

Kise widened his eyes when he finally realized. From the back!

Kuroko stole the ball and arced it to Kagami.

"It doesn't matter if you can copy whatever plays you see." said Kagami grinned as he dunked.

**"Oh! Nice shoot!"**

**"Seirin is catching up again!"**

"They're troublesome damn it... and the two of them working together is definitely worse." stated Kasamatsu.

With his lack of presence, if he's coming from behind, even Kise can't react! Riko fistpumped. "Great job Fujidana-san!" Riko tackled Hazuki with glee.

"Ah, just call me Hazuki, it's shorter. Don't you call my brother with his first name as well?" _Which implies something,_ Hazuki thought, her mind drifting off course the same way her brother did sometimes.

"Yes!" Riko unintentionally grasped Hazuki into a headlock as she observed the excellent teamwork by Seirin.

"Coach, was that a yes to my name or was that―a―a...fuee-eee-eeeee-eee-eee-eee..."

**"AH! SORRY HAZUKI!"**

"Ah, so that was a yes..."

* * *

"Then what if I don't get through? Nobody is forcing me to." Kise jumped for a three pointer.

But the ball was smacked out of his hand. Kise widened his eyes as he saw it was Kagami.

'Damn it! That means Kurokocchi is taking care of the ground and Kagami is covering him with his height!' Kise finally realized the strength of this duo.

_'And it's possible because the movement for a three pointer takes time... these guys are really troublesome!'_ thought Kasamatsu angrily.

**"Fast break!"** Kagami and Kise ran after the ball.

_Close.._ Hazuki thought. _Isn't that―_

**BAM.**

Kise's arm smashed into Kuroko's head.

Blank. Even the prudentite* needed a moment to realize what just happened before widening her eyes and quickly scrambling around the sports bags for a first-aid kit.

* * *

**"Kuroko-kun!"**

**"Referee time-out!"**

**"Kuroko!"** Kagami rushed over to see the sight of blood pouring out of the right side of his temple.

Kuroko stood up groggily.

"Are you okay Kuroko?"

"I feel lightheaded." Kuroko replied.

"Get a first-aid―" Riko stopped as soon as Hazuki wordlessly opened the kit and brought out bandages and clean pads for the blood.

Hyuga inspects the wound carefully. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine. The game is just starting..." Kuroko wavered for a second. Then tipped over onto Hazuki.

"Wha!" Hazuki barely managed to keep Kuroko from falling onto the floor by pushing his shoulders up.

**"Kuroko!"**

* * *

Kasamatsu fiddled with his jersey, as Kuroko was brought over to the Seirin bench,"The score will only grow in difference, now that their freshman duo is gone."

Kise looked over to Kuroko, guilt washing over his face.

Hazuki patiently wiped the blood and sweat off Kuroko's forehead. It might not be as bad as it looks. It would be ridiculous for a high schooler to get a concussion this easily. Ridiculous.

"What should we do now?"

"Kuroko-kun can't play anymore," Riko pondered out loud, but surprisingly, with not as much panic as everyone expected. "But it's not like it's over."  
"Kagami you won't be on the offense anymore, since Kise will just copy you. The second years will be our offensive core. And Hazuki, you're going."

**"Eh?"** The Seirin team blinked in surprise.

Hazuki blinked. Then nodded slowly.

"I-is that really going to be alright?!"

"Hmn... Kagami-kun, that hurt... you didn't have to say that..."

"It's alright!" Hyuuga declared. "If Coach says that, let her play."

* * *

**2 weeks ago:**

"Oi, Coach. Are you serious in letting a girl play?" Hyuuga demanded.

"Well the school doesn't have a girl's basketball team."

"That's not the point! She's not bad I admit, and I know our team doesn't have much members, but this is..."  
"I'm serious Hyuuga. Her declaration of war on the Crownless Generals can't be ignored. And from what she told me a few days ago... she's completely serious."

"Still..."

"I saw it."

"...What?"

"The first day of school, she asked me to gauge her skills. She doesn't possess strength or the height that a basketball player needs, regardless of whether you are female or male. But her strengths... I can see her going very far, even if she hasn't had the chance to show it."

Hyuuga still looked quite doubtful.

"Ah don't worry! We're a new school and I managed to twist the school's policy ethically enough! Using my power as vice-president was a cinch!"

**"THAT'S NOT REASSURING!"**

* * *

Since Coach says so, Hyuuga thought.

"But!" Kagami protested.

**"I'm telling you it's alright, you fucking moron! Listen to what your senpai says from time to time or I'll kill you!"**

**"EHHHHHH!?"**

During the confusion of the first years at their Captain's 180 degree change, Hazuki quickly slipped her shirt off._ Number 14,_ she thought. _It's twice Teppei's number._

**"First years should show more respect for your seniors! Get on your knees!"** he roared.

"You're showing your true colours, Captain!" Izuki deadpanned. He turned to Kagami. "Don't worry about him, he's always like that during clutch time. When he speaks mind out, he won't miss most of his shots. Leave the offense to him, and defend like your life depends on it!"

"That way, Kise-kun's offense went get stronger. And Izuki, wait a second." Riko said.

"Yes coach?"

"There's something you need to do."

* * *

Hazuki gave Kuroko one last gentle pat then headed off.

"What is making them so loud..." Kasamatsu trailed off. "EH?"

Kaijou immediately turned to Seirin as they walked onto the court. To see a certain girl clad in the uniform No. 14, adjusting on her headband.

**"...A GIRL!?"**

Tick marks immediately erupted on the coach's head. "Now they're really looking down on us, huh... sending their manager to play and making fun of us. HUH!?"

"She was actually serious..." Kise muttered. "But why would they send her out at a time like this?"

"Are... what.." Kasamatsu spluttered. "I can't even tell what they're trying to do?!"

"They sent out a girl," Moriyama murmured.

"I obviously know that idiot!"

"That's not what I meant."

"Hah?"

Moriyama immediately shoved aside the Kaijou players and leaped towards Hazuki.

**"YOU!"**

"Eh, yes?"

**"HOW COULD THEY?"**

"Eh?"

Moriyama immediately grasped her hands, "How could Seirin send out such a fragile princess to be torn by barbarians?"

"Eh? Sempai, that's horrible!" Kise protested.

**"MORIYAMA YOU DUMBASS, GET BACK HERE!"**

"What are you doing Moriyama!" Kobori shouted. "Don't make a weird situation even weirder!"

**"A(s) expecte(d) of senpa(i)!"** Hayakawa yelled.

**"MORIYAMA!"** Kasamatsu stomped on over punched him on the head.

**"OUCHHH!"**

**"LET GO OF HER YOU IDIOT!"** Kasamatsu dragged him back to the Kaijou bench.

_**What is going on?**_ Seirin gawked.

"Um excuse me," The referee stammered to Seirin. "But this is..."

"Ah don't worry!" Riko grinned. "There are no violations of girls being allowed to play in our team, as we are a new school with no traditional policies. We do not have a basketball team for girls, so there's no problem."  
"That's... eh..."

"If you want to look at the documents that we will submit for the actual competitions, you'll see that it's all sanctioned!"

"Er... al...alright..."

**"SERIOUSLY!?"** Kaijou chorused.

_Coach is taking me seriously,_ Hazuki looked at her hands. _This is the first time I'm going to play real basketball. The very first. This is the first step. We are in a pinch._

"That was pretty weird..." Koganei said to Hazuki. "Eh, are you alright!?"

_So, why can't I stop smiling?_

* * *

**"SEIRIN'S BALL!"**

Izuki began dribbling up, with Mitobe at the high post and Kagami, ready to guard. Kaijou immediately went into position, having a double team on Hyuuga.

_Of course, they won't take Hazuki seriously,_ Riko thought. _Which is why..._

Izuki immediately passed to Hazuki and she bounded for the goal, taking all the players by surpise.

**"We'll concentrate our attacks with Hazuki!"**

"HUH!?" The 2nd string Kaijou members shouted.

**"She's fast!"**

"Tch!" Kasamatsu immediately sprinting after her. "So they didn't really send her up for nothing!"

_Damn it,_ Izuki thought. _I dropped my guard!_

Riko glared. _As expected of one of the top national ranking point guards... Kasamatsu Yukio!_

"**A(s) expecte(d) of Captain!**" Hayakawa shouted.

"Pronounce your words properly!" Kobori yelled back.

_Anyone who's dribbling the ball will be slower than anyone without it,_ Kasamatsu thought. _I don't really want to do this but..._

_He's fast,_ Hazuki thought. _But..._

* * *

**_There are three requirements to make that move succeed. Some people call it unnecessarily flashy and hovering that close against the rules. And if done incorrectly, injuries are very likely._**

**_But so few people know about it, and even fewer people know how to pull it off._**

**_And if it's done correctly, it will catch the opponent off their guard. Each and every time._**

* * *

"No way!" A benched member shouted. "That girl... her speed is on par with one of nation's biggest captains!?"  
_Her ball handling is ridiculous! _Kasamatsu gritted his teeth. _It's always out of my reach whenever I try to steal it!_

_Here it comes,_ Riko thought. _That potential I saw the first day._

Hazuki's eyes flashed left.

Huh...?

She took a deep breath.

She leaned right, dangerously parallel. And then in a blink of an eye, she slid on the court faster than she had ever ran.

**"SLIDING!?"**

**"WHAT!?"**

"Eh...EHHH!?" Izuki gaped.

"...!" Mitobe blinked.

"Se-seriously!?" Kagami said.

"So that's why you sent... Fujidana out!?" Koganei exclaimed.

"Her unusual positioning was what really stood out when I observed her during practice and the game against you guys. I could form a hypothesis that she would use her speed to do moves like this."

"Wait... isn't that travelling!?"

"No, not if if she does it correctly. If she passes the ball or moves using sliding, it's a perfectly legal move. Unless she rolls over or gets up if she falls then it becomes illegal. Looks like we have a referee who knows the rules today... fufu."

"...Coach you're really scary."

* * *

**Kaijou's Bench:**

"Coach, what is that?!" A benched member asked Genta.

Genta shook his head, bemused. "Even when I was on the national team, we never met any players that unorthodox. Sliding to move... I've heard of some exhibition teams in the United States doing that... but in a real game..."

_Pass the ball between the opponent's openings. In a case where the opponent is not moving, they're in the triple-threat stance. Which means hurling the ball through their legs is vital to keep it in possession!_

**NOW!**

Hazuki twisted the ball with a flick of wrist and passed into her left hand. And then immediately she arced it backwards to Hyuuga.

So this was what Coach was talking about, Hyuuga thought as he scored a three pointer. Well... who cares...

"Take that~" Hyuuga grinned insanely.

"Well sorry," Riko grinned. "All of our players aren't good at giving up."

"An average guy when he's nice! But when he snaps, he's amazing! And scary! **Hyuuga Junpei, the clutch shooter!**"

"Calm and composed, never panicking! The control tower! With a weird sense of humor, **Izuki Shun!**"

"A nice pass," Izuki muttered. "Salon-pass! Oh no, that was a good one!"

"Our unsung hero that does his work well. But no one has ever heard his voice! **Mitobe Rinnosuke!**"

_And of course, this unexpected standout that will fight in her own way,_ Riko thought with a grin.

"..." Kagami sweatdropped at the commentary. (Or it could just have been at Izuki's pun.)

* * *

Seirin's firepower did not cease, but the fact that fatigue was getting to the 2nd years wasn't changing. Only Kagami and Hazuki were still less affected by the ridiculous pace.

"I didn't think you were serious," Kise said. "I hate to do this... but I'll have to be serious now!"

"Well...I was serious from the start. Well I must admit it is kind of hard to believe..."

**"END OF SECOND QUARTER!"**

* * *

**8 minutes into the third quarter:**

Although Seirin had not completely lost yet, with Kaijou's regulars on them, it was difficult for them to close in the gap completely.

"This is seriously hard," Hyuuga muttered. "Without Kuroko here..."

**"THREE MINUTES LEFT IN THE THIRD QUARTER!"**

* * *

"If we only had Kuroko." Riko said. _The 2nd years aren't used to such intense matches like this! Hazuki saved us, but even Kagami's starting to lose energy..._

"Understood."

"...Eh?"

"Good morning," A certain phantom player stood up. "Well then, I'm going."

_And I guess I'm leaving,_ Hazuki thought as she glanced at the bench.

* * *

***Prudentite isn't a real word. Prudent means you can foresee what happens or calculate future events, (not like an oracle, just good deduction). Hazuki and Kiyoshi are examples of this kind of character. They're smart (grade wise as well), and good at interpreting people, for the most part. I hope that makes sense as to why Hazuki and Kiyoshi are 'absent' minded/odd. It's just that their chain of thought is quicker than most people. **

**And it's also why they can see Kuroko better than most people. :)**

**Hope that helps! R/R please! **


	10. Because I Made A Promise To Myself

**I KNOW! It's... short. Really... short. ;( I'm sorry.  
IMPORTANT NOTICE: I'm seriously considering to CHANGE THE NAME OF THE FANFIC. PLEASE SEND IN IDEAS OR YOUR THOUGHTS ON WHETHER NOT TO.**

* * *

**Chapter 9 - Because I Made A Promise To Myself Two Years ago**

"Well then, I'm going," Kuroko said as he hobbled to the court.

"Wait, wait! It's impossible no matter what! You're injured right?! Look at how unsteady you are!"

"But coach said I should go now..."

"I DIDN'T! IT WAS ONLY A 'WHAT IF'!"

"Then I'm going."

"HEY!"

"The situation will change if I got back on the court, so I beg of you..."

Riko still looked unconvinced at the fact to send an injured player back on court.

"On top of that, I made a promise to become Kagami-kun's shadow." Kuroko glanced at Hazuki, who briefly glanced back at the Seirin bench with immediate comprehension of what was going to happen.

"...Alright! But if I think it's even a bit dangerous, I'm substituting you immediately!"

* * *

Outside of the gym, somewhere in Tokyo there was a certain black-haired boy pedaling away, carrying a certain green-haired boy.

A kindergartner watched them in naive wonder. "It's a rear car..."

"**Damn it!** We were supposed to switch at the light!" The poor black-haired boy yelled as the green-haired boy just drank his shiruko calmly.

**"You haven't pedaled once!"**

"Of course I haven't... Today's 'Oha-Asa' predicted the greatest of days for Cancers like me."

"What does that have to do with anything!?If we're going all this way just to watch a training match, your middle school teammates better be good!"

"It's the copycat and the invisible man."

**_"Is that supposed to be strong!?"_**

"Hurry up, or the game will be over!" The green haired boy sighed.

**"IT'S YOUR FAULT FOR READING HOROSCOPES!"** The other guy screamed. **"It's probably the fourth quarter already!"**

* * *

**"Member change for Seirin!"**  
Everyone's eyes immediately turned to the referee table where Kuroko began walking towards the court with his fingers in the number 8.

_Eh... not me?_ Hazuki blinked. Mitobe hi-fived Kuroko, clearly exhausted from the last three quarters and a half. _Don't tell me..._

"No way..." Hazuki muttered. **_I'm... not that even that... tall!_**

"Are you serious... Coach?" Koganei asked, sweatdropping.

"Yes."

"But..." Furihata muttered.

**"THIS IS PRACTICALLY A DWARF VERSUS A GIANT!"** They all tsukommied as Hazuki thought the same thing, facing the center of Kaijou, Kobori.

"Hrm..." Hazuki thought out loud, troubled.

"Se-seriously?" Kobori muttered.

Hazuki shook her head, "I know."

_Coach wouldn't do that for no reason,_ Hazuki thought as they began to race to the Kaijou goal. T_here must be a reason she wants me to take into practice... something I need to realize._

Izuki passed the ball to her. Hazuki paused in front of the 192 cm obstacle that was more than twice as strong as her.

She closed her eyes and fell left.

"Huh!?"

This was a dangerous moment, especially on opponents who were physically stronger and more experienced than her. But if she didn't try now, she would fail. And that included future opponents.

_Now!_

She swept her arm right as she began to barely slide into the perfect hole in Kobori's defense. She flicked her wrist and managed to twist the ball around Kobori and towards Kuroko.

Kuroko immediately caught the ball and immediately bounced the ball to Kagami.

"We got used to it but he got back to the invisibility he had from the start!" Kasamatsu shouted, his eyes going to the more immediate danger.

"Is it because he wasn't playing for the last 20 minutes!?" Kobori muttered.

Kagami caught the ball then hurled it towards Hyuuga. Hyuuga grinned and shot the ball. A perfect 3-pointer.

"It can't be…"  
"You must be kidding…"

**"TIED!?"**

**"THEY TIED?!"**

"Seirin has finally caught up!?"

We're… tied? Kise thought.

"...Heh."

_His aura… changed?_ Kagami thought.

* * *

"Kise!" Kasamatsu yelled.

Kise caught the ball and sped on past Kuroko. Kuroko blinked in surprise and immediately swiped for the ball. Kise gritted his teeth and passed it to his other hand, far away from Kuroko.

"...!" Riko gaped.

Kise raced past Kagami and dunked so fiercely, the hoop shook.

**_He's even stronger! _**Kagami thought.

Kise got up and glared at Seirin. "I won't lose to anyone. Not to Kuroko. Not to anyone."

_He even left out the chhi suffix,_ Hazuki thought.

_**He even saw through Kuroko's pass?!**_

"Damn…" Hyuuga wiped his sweat with his jersey. "I hope you're all fired up. Because until the end of the match it'll be just like the first quarter."

* * *

**A STRUGGLE FOR POINTS!**

91-93

Kobori dunked into the goal.

93-93

Hazuki shot the ball into the basket.

93-95

Kise got past Kuroko and Kagami and dunked.

95-95

Izuki made a layup.

95-98

Hyuuga strained his arm and shot into the basket.

98-98.

"Damn, they're stubborn!"  
"Let's finish them!" Kasamatsu yelled.

15 seconds left.

"If we don't steal the ball now, it's over!" Hyuuga shouted.

"YEAH!" Seirin yelled.

"Kagami-kun, just a moment," Kuroko said.

"If we can steal the ball now, there's a way to shoot that even Kise-kun can't copy."

"..." Hazuki wiped the sweat off her forehead, silently alert at what Kuroko just said.

* * *

"DON'T JUST DEFEND! ATTACK THEM!" yelled Riko. _There's less than 10 seconds… we don't have the stamina to go over time!_ "GO!"

Kasamatsu bent his knees and formed the position to shoot.

"Tch!" Hyuuga glared and jumped, but he was too late.

Hazuki already was there to intercept.

"Wha..." Kasamatsu said.

Hazuki hurled the ball down the court to where Kagami and Kuroko were waiting.

"Kuroko!" Kagami passed to Kuroko.

_Kurokocchi can't shoot! There's no other choice but to send the ball back to Kagami…!?_

Kuroko shot at the goal.

"!?"

"Wha…"

"NO! It's an alleyoop!" yelled Kasamatsu.

Kise jumped. "I won't let you!" He widened his eyes as he realized that he was falling first. _What the hell, how long is he gonna stay in midair?!_

Hazuki just looked down, smiled, and did a fist pump to herself.

* * *

_Because, this, is the first step in the promise I made to myself two years ago._

* * *

"You won't copy anything anymore! Because...!"

_If you score a buzzer beater, it will be alright._

**"I'll end with that!"** Kagami dunked into the basket.

**100-98. Winner: Seirin High School**

* * *

**PLEASE READ THE IMPORTANT NOTICE IN THE FIRST SENTENCES! :)**


	11. Basketball Proposes, Hazuki Disposes

**I've updated... I have no excuses... so I apologize! x_x **

**High school is really busy... I wish there some class where I could just write fanfiction and go on tumblr all day. Tumblr is blocked at my school which really really really really sucks...**

**Speaking of which, I really like a lot of vocaloid songs that are covered by utaite. What are some utaites that you guys like? By the way, I'm still taking suggestions to change the title of my story, so any suggestions, comments etc. are always always welcome! X3**

* * *

**Chapter 10 - Man disposes, God proposes**

**"WE WON!"** yelled Hyuga.

"YEAHHH!" Seirin cheered.

A small smile appeared on Kuroko's face.

**"YESSS!"** Kagami shouted.

Kise stood there, stunned. "We...lost?"

_In my life...it's the first time I lost… huh…?_

Hazuki looked at Kise, and saw the tears forming in his eyes. A few seconds later, she didn't know whether to be surprised or not when she found herself stepping towards Kise to trip him, and unintentionally tripping herself in the process.  
"Biff!" Kise had the wind knocked out of him.

"Wah! Fujidana suddenly threw herself over!"

_Not intentionally..._

"Oops," Hazuki said clearly then whispered to Kise. "Don't cry, you're a man aren't you?"

"Eh?" Kise's tears resided from where they came from.

"I wouldn't want anyone to see me in your position either. Ah well, I hope this was distracting enough."

"..." Kise looked at Hazuki in surprise.

**"KYA!** What is that girl doing!" A fangirl shrieked. They had been surprised but mostly quiet when Hazuki was subbed in (Kise was more of importance and she didn't seem to have anything to do with him).

But this was a different matter now, it meant war.

Ah… and I'm dead, Hazuki thought, sweatdropping in resignation as she felt the distinct evil aura from the second floor seeping in.

But all the same, only the more observant ones on the court managed to notice Kise's tears. Kuroko certainly did, and Kasamatsu did too, but it could be overall, counted as a success.

Kuroko came over and helped Hazuki up. "Thanks, Kuroko-kun."

"You idiot!" Kasamatsu kicked Kise.

**"OUCH!"**

"The fact that you've never lost is pissing me off more! **I'll HIT YOU!"**

"But you've already hit me…"

"In any case, you need to put the word 'revenge', in that empty dictionary of yours!"

Kise widened his eyes, then nodded.

**"LINE UP!"**  
**"WITH A SCORE OF 100-98, SEIRIN HIGH WINS!"**

"Thank you very much!" Everyone bowed.

* * *

A dark and hellish aura was erupting out of Coach Genta as he glared at the Seirin team behind Kasamatsu.

"Because we're in different districts, if we play again, it'll be at Inter-High," Kasamatsu shook Hyuuga's hand.

"We'll be there," Hyuuga said with conviction as he felt Riko glowing behind him. "None of us want to confess our loves naked."

**"!?"**

Flowers began sprouting from a beaming Riko while the entire Seirin team looked at her warily.

_I don't know which could be worse… the first part… or the second,_ Hazuki twitched. _I'm going to have to ask Teppei who started this tradition._

"Well, let's go!" Hyuuga shouted.

"Yes sir!" Seirin shouted.

"Hey where's Kise?" A 2nd string member asked.

"It seems like he didn't want to show his face, so he excused himself to somewhere else…"

* * *

Kise bent his head under a tap and let the water rush down his face.

"Today, Oha-Asa predicted the worst luck for Gemini's... but I didn't think you'd lose." Kise raised his head, remembering the familiar voice and meeting the eyes of a familiar green-haired boy,

"Midorimacchi? You watched our game?"

The other boy scowled slightly. "Well no matter who one, it was an unfortunate game... even a monkey could have managed those dunks."

"It's no wonder fate didn't choose you."

"It's been middle school since I've last seen you... nice to meet you too." Kise pouted at the less than affectionate reunion. "I see you haven't stopped taping your fingers. Anyways~ who cares if I dunk, as long as it goes in?"

"That's why you are no good. It's easy to get the ball in from so close. But making the shot far away has true value. Fate looks upon me greatly, because I keep up the most optimal effort, and I always have Oha-Asa's lucky item on me."

Midorima brought out his magnificent Kerosuke.

"By the way today's lucky item is a frog toy. That is why my shots never miss."

_This isn't the first time I've thought of this… but I've… never understood this guy. To think that he's the number on shooter of the Generation of Miracles… Midorima Shintarou!_

"Anyways, shouldn't you be talking to Kurokocchi, instead of me?"

"There's no point... B-blood types like me never get along with A-blood types like him. I not only acknowledge his style, but I respect it as well. What I can't accept is his decision to go to Seirin, an obscure school like that."

Midorima sighed in annoyance. "Really, I cannot believe that the team you joined, which is nationally ranked, was defeated by dunking idiots and players that have the strength of females. Especially that Number 14," Midorima adjusted his spectacles. "He may have an interesting skill, but dribbling techniques can only go so far with that clear lack of strength."

"What… are you talking about that girl player on the Seirin team?"

"..."

"..."

**"HAH!?"**

"Whoa, that surprised me!"

"I'm the one who should be saying that! Are you seriously saying that Kuroko joined a team that they resort to recruiting girls in the boys' division!?"

"I… guess?"

Midorima adjusted his glasses in further irritation. "I simply came, because we'll be playing them in the division preliminaries. But honestly... they are far from being good enough. Seriously… to go as far to depend on players that aren't supposed to be in this division…"

Kise frowned slightly at the fact, but he couldn't exactly retort back. _Although that girl really is a good player, but it's really pushing it that she's in the boy's division of basketball… and it's even worse timing now._ To be in the warzones with the Generation of Miracles was no joke.

**"Midorima, you bastard!"** Takao broke the silence. "You left me alone with the rickshaw in the middle of traffic! Do you know how embarrassing that is?!" he yelled from the top of his lungs.

Midorima turns back to Kise, "Today I just came to see the match, but I'm apologizing beforehand, because you will not face off with Seirin. There's no way Shuutoku is fated to lose to Seirin and you should give up on your revenge."

Seirin walked by towards the exit of Kaijou. Kuroko patted his head, not noticing the exchange between Midorima and Kise. But Hazuki glanced at them, distinctly aware that one of her brother's biggest opponents when he was in Shoei was a couple meters away.

* * *

The Seirin team waited outside the Sasaki hospital for Kuroko to be checked by the doctor. Hazuki paced and shuffled enough that the others noticed.

"What's wrong Fujidana?" Kawahara asked.

"Oh… it's nothing." Hazuki looked at the building. "I don't like hospitals very much."

Riko marched outside with Kuroko in tow with a big thumbs up.

"Everything's okay!" Riko smiled cheerfully.

The Seirin team let out a big sigh of relief.

"That's great," Hyuuga said.

"Sorry for making you worry," Kuroko bowed.

"I didn't know what would happen when you fell over," Izuki smiled with relief.

"I'm just glad you're alright," Tsuchida said.

Now that the nervousness for Kuroko's wound had passed, the Seirin team began grinning.

"Yeah! We won!" Koganei cheered.

"Lets get something to eat on the way home," Izuki suggested.

"What do you want?" Hyuuga asked.

"Something cheap. I'm broke."

"Me too."

"So am I."

Riko stopped.

"Hold on." Everyone looked at her. "How much does everyone have after transportation costs?"

* * *

After some scrummaging, a grand total of 21 yen was uncovered.

"Let's go home," Hyuuga said, as a depression began clouding over the group.

"Yeah," Koganei said.

Riko sighed in disappointment, then looked at the road. Suddenly, a large truck spray-painted with 'Free Steak' zoomed by gallantly.

"..." Riko stared then flowers and bright rays of sunshine began to erupt from her face, never a good sign.

Riko blew her whistle to catch Seirin's attention.

"It's alright. Why don't we go for some steak!?"

"...Hah?"

* * *

10 minutes later, the entire Seirin team was presented with 4 kg of sizzling steak, buttery and filled with juices. A large poster on the wall printed the following:

**SUPER VOLUME 4 KG STEAK**

**EAT IT IN 30 MINUTES OR LESS AND IT'S FREE!**  
**THOSE WHO FAIL MUST PAY A 10,000 YEN FEE**

"What's wrong?" Riko said cheerfully. "Don't hold your selves back."

**_THIS IS TOO MUCH!_**The Seirin team tsukommied in their heads.

Hazuki's stomach grumbled. After having her first official game, she had felt very hungry and meals at home were generally quite large with her brother's vivacious appetite.

_I think I can probably finish this,_ Hazuki began to dig in at the same time as Kagami attacked it.

"What are we going to do if we can't eat all of this?" Hyuuga grimaced.

Riko crossed her arms. "What do you mean? Why do you think I make you run every day?"

The boys, excluding Kuroko and Kagami, dropped their jaws at her. FOR BASKETBALL!?

Hazuki glanced at the window behind Riko where there seemed to be a shadow of a cook with a frying pan chasing after another man. She decided to hurry up and eat.

5 minutes later, the other boys began to eat their steaks to make up for their lost time.

"I should know by now that this is how she is…" thought Hyuga irritably.

Izuki stared at the speared cube of steak he had on his fork.

"This steak… is steakalicious."

Koganei spluttered then muttered, "Sorry, but that's really annoying right now."  
1 minutes later, Kuroko put his fork down, and then wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"I'm sorry..."

"What is it? Do you need some water?" Hyuuga asked him.

"...I give up."

**"KUROKO!"**

* * *

Hazuki glanced at the shotgun display on the wall and hurriedly finished her last bits of steak.

We're dead, the Seirin boys collapsed on their chairs and the tables.

"Um… are you guys alright?" She asked.

Hyuuga turned to her like a creaky robot.

"Ur.. **EH!?** How did you manage to finish that!?" Hyuuga yelled while the other stared at her empty plate.

"Well," Hazuki scratched her cheek in embarrassment. "I was hungry… so…"

The boys turned pale at the thought of gorging any more steak and then collapsed back onto the tables.

"This is so good!" Kagami grinned. "Maybe I'll get some more!"

Once again, the Seirin team rose their heads and stared in amazement.

"Huh? If you're not gonna eat that, can I have it?" asked Kagami.

He's stuffing his cheeks like a squirrel, the Seirin team thought.

"Save me the hassle and bring them all over here," He said.

**"OH! Kagami! THANK YOU!"**

As Kagami was finally finishing the rest of the steaks in record time, Kuroko walked out of the store, and sighed at the crazy tirade just now.

He looked up, at the railings near the road and saw Kise.

"...Kise-kun?"

"Do you have a minute to talk?"

* * *

**WHO CAN'T WAIT FOR SEASON 2! BAOIHFIUDHIUEHFGWIHDOZgnsrliguhduahf!**


End file.
